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What Is Prevention |
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| Why Is Prevention
Of Alcohol, Tobacco, And Other Drug Problems Important? |
| Alcohol, tobacco,
and other drug problems cost years of quality life. And, they cost
money.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy found that alcohol and drug
addiction costs our society $276 billion as a result of lost
productivity, healthcare costs, crime and traffic fatalities. In other
words, $1,000 per year for every man, woman and child. You may not
have a drug or alcohol problem…but you are paying for one. It’s time
to get the message out that our society can no longer afford the
devastation of this costly disease by working to change attitudes
through public awareness. We need to change the way people think about
addiction so that they understand the real human, health, social, and
financial costs to our society.
In addition, prevention efforts strengthen our communities, schools,
families, and individuals. Drug dealers are less likely to infiltrate
strong communities. Schools with strong policies against smoking and
drinking are healthier. Family members who serve as healthy role
models help inoculate their offspring. Mentors offer support for
healthy individual development.
These facts also help explain why ATOD problem prevention is
important: Nearly 7 out of 10 manslaughter offenses occur after a
person has been drinking or using other drugs.
Smoking and use of other tobacco products cause cancer and heart
disease. Alcohol also is a factor in these diseases.
The use and abuse of these substances frequently contribute to teen
pregnancy, HIV/AIDS/ STD transmission, child abuse, and other social
problems.
According to one analysis, persons who abuse alcohol and other drugs
use two and one half times the medical benefits as non-abusers; and
children of substance abusers also use more health care services.
Violence and disease represent large costs to taxpayers struggling
with a record-setting deficit and ever increasing health care costs.
Prevention means less money must be spent on preventable diseases.
Incarceration is one part of the cost of violence and crime associated
with ATOD problems. Violence diverts law enforcement personnel, clogs
the courts, causes economic loss and mental anguish for victims, and
dulls the potential of our Nation and our people.
Without prevention, young people make unhealthy and unsafe choices,
jeopardizing our future abilities to compete in the global
marketplace. We are unable to foster vital communities and ensure our
Nation's vitality.
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What Is The Importance Of Prevention In Health Care Reform? |
| Prevention is a major key to
reduced health care costs.
Alcoholism and drug dependence is an illness. Addictions lead to more
disabilities and deaths each year than AIDS, cancer or heart disease.
In fact it’s the number one health problem in the United States,
afflicting and affecting more than 22 million Americans. More than
nine million children, one out of four, are growing up in a household
where someone is dependent on alcohol or drugs (3). |
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According to one analysis, we could
reduce the Nation's expenditures on health care by $90.4 billion if
alcohol and other drug problems were prevented. |
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| Currently, the Federal
Government spends only about $50 per person each year on prevention,
treatment, and interdiction related to fighting drug problems
(including $3.7 billion to State and local governments). |
How Can Prevention Efforts Reduce Costs And Boost The Economy?
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| In two ways. As stated above,
prevention can help reduce health care costs. Second, if we can keep
our children in school learn the skills they need, and if we can keep
our workers productive in the workforce, we will boost revenues in a
highly competitive environment. We will produce the goods and services
needed to expand our resources to reduce the deficit. |
How Do We Know That Prevention Works? |
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People can and do recover. Millions of people in long-term recovery
are living proof of a real solution to this problem. Helping people
achieve long-term recovery helps reduce the costs to us all. It will
help reduce healthcare costs, traffic fatalities, crime, lost
productivity, absenteeism, and the tremendous toll on families(4). |
Why Should We Continue To Invest Resources In Prevention? |
| There are two very important
reasons. First, we have to set up more intensive and repetitive
interventions among those who have not been easily persuaded by
previous efforts. For example, there are still over 9 million
youngsters who drink illegally.
There are millions of young people and adults who remain at a very
high risk due to academic failures, running away, being abused, living
with substance abusers, and living in high-risk environments. Because prevention efforts
have been reduce in the past few years, we have noticed significant
increases in the use of tobacco products by youth. We have not yet achieved great success with
these high-risk audiences despite demonstrations of promising
approaches. Second, if prevention efforts are not continued at an
intensive level, the gains fall off. Young people entering school
today, for instance, believe that smoking is harmful, but the rates of
smoking begin to increase without "resistance" skill training and
practice and policies that restrict availability, and other prevention
efforts. Because prevention efforts have decreased, significant gains
have not been made in reducing the use of tobacco products by youths. |
What Are The Major Needs For Substance Abuse Prevention?
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Better studies to assess
exactly what prevention services and policies work best for whom and
under what conditions. For example, what works best for high
sensation-seeking youth? What works best in communities beset with
high levels of unemployment, poverty, and crime? What works best with
men who have few personal support systems?
Additional resources for implementation of prevention policies and
practices at the community level, especially where hopelessness,
despair, and poverty prevail. Expanded resources for addressing the
myths and misconceptions about ATOD use (for example, that alcohol
intoxication is funny or is seen as a rite of passage for the young)
and to increase the realistic perception of harm. More culturally
appropriate prevention messages and mechanisms to reach audiences with
less exposure to traditional information channels.
Ways to change norms-especially within
high-risk environments, for example, college and university campuses,
military installations, and high crime areas. A reduction in the
disproportionate share of messages aimed at promoting alcohol and
tobacco products among low-income populations. A decrease of
availability and access to alcohol and tobacco products by youth. |
Who Benefits From Prevention? |
Everyone benefits from
prevention. We already practice many types of prevention-when we brush
our teeth, fasten our safety belts, and look both ways before crossing
an intersection. We keep medicines, poisons, weapons, and sharp
instruments out of children's reach. We read the warning labels of
over- the-counter and prescription drugs. We encourage good nutrition
and physical fitness. We limit our intake of fat and salt. We protect
the safety of our food and water, our housing, and our automobiles.
We make prevention happen in many ways and benefit from the results.
Our children are not poisoned. We have fewer injuries. We do not
experience overdoses. We avoid obesity and related illness.
We can do the same in terms of preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other
drug problems and reap many benefits. Let's make prevention a
priority. Let's keep our children in school, our workers employed, and
our country on the leading edge in the global competition. |
How Do I Get Additional Information? |
| Call or write CSAP's National
Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686; P.O.
Box 2345 Rockville, MD 20852. Many of the
references cited above and below are available through their
Prevention Resource Center. |
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1. The Future by Design: A Community Framework for Preventing Alcohol
and Other Drug Problems Through a Systems Approach (1991) BK189
2. Frequently Asked Questions about Preventing Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Other Drug Problems (1993) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
3. Substance Abuse. The
Nation’s Number One Health Problem, Institute for Health Policy, 2001
4. IBID |
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