Although the media has recently been focusing primarily on the impact of prescription drug abuse in the United States, the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs remains an enormous threat to our economy, physical safety and social framework. Recent estimates show that use of illicit drugs has cost the US close to $200 billion annually in the areas of criminal justice, healthcare, and corporate productivity.

The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM II) gathers drug test results for people arrested in ten specific US cities. The results of program testing indicate a strong association between addiction to illicit substances and crime. Last year, more than 50% of ADAM II subjects had one or more illicit substances in their bodies at the time of arrest. In all but one of the ten cities, more than 60% tested positive for an illicit substance.

The National Drug Intelligence Center claims that addiction to illicit drugs costs the US economy over $100 billion annually due to productivity issues. For individual workers with substance abuse issues, productivity is impacted when there is a decrease in job motivation and performance or, in some cases, by a complete absence from the workplace due to hospitalization, imprisonment or attendance at a residential drug rehab program. When addicted workers are no longer able to participate fully in the labor force, the US loses approximately $50 billion per year. When workers are no longer to participate at all, the economy loses an additional $50 billion.

Illicit drugs are also responsible for an additional $60 billion burden on federal, state and local criminal justice systems. The costs relate to incarceration, prosecution and rehabilitation. A 2010 study showed that crack cocaine and methamphetamine were the drugs most often responsible for crime and criminal justice expenditures. The study also revealed that heroin was to blame for approximately 20% of property-related crime.

While costs associated with lost productivity and crime are indirect measures of the costs of illicit substance abuse, the cost of treating drug addiction can be directly measured. The National Drug Intelligence Center estimates that over $10 billion is spent in the US each year to treat the symptoms and ramifications of illicit substance abuse. These costs stem from medical intervention, emergency treatment, residential drug treatment, in-patient detox, substance abuse prevention and research into treatment for drug addiction.

People who use illicit drugs are frequently hospitalized as a direct result of their drug use. It is estimated that two million visits to the emergency room each year can be directly attributed to drug abuse, with over half stemming from use of illicit drugs. In total, these visits represent over $150 million. An additional $5 billion is spent on patients who cannot be discharged directly from the ER and, instead, require inpatient care.

The impact of illicit drugs can also be quantified in non-monetary terms. With more and more Americans being prescribed psychotropic drugs, the phenomenon of drugged driving is becoming a major public health issue. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), although the total number of traffic fatalities has decreased over the past five years, the number of traffic fatalities involving drugs has actually risen. In addition, police officers, fire fighters, and other first responders who respond to incidents at meth labs must deal with fires, explosions and exposure to toxic substances. In fact, over fifty first responders are injured at meth labs annually.