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Illegal Drug Facts
Here are some illegal drug facts that may surprise or sadden you. As with most issues pertaining to illegal drug use and addiction, there are many things that are often unexpected. The costs of addiction are much higher than expected and the causes of addiction are extremely sad. Illegal drug facts are tracked by various sources and cover a wide range of topics including crime, drug addicts, drug rehabilitation, cost of drug addiction to society, and the additive aspect of drugs themselves.
- 70% of violent crime is committed by people who are intoxicated with either alcohol or drugs.
- 90% of property crimes and muggings are drug related.
- Illegal drug facts show that approximately 135,000 die each year as a consequence of alcohol and drugs, costing about $46 billion dollars each year.
- Approximately 80% of all crime in the U.S. is related to drug or alcohol addiction.
- Currently, an estimated 20 million Americans are addicted to drugs or alcohol.
- Every dollar spent on treatment leads to a $7.46 reduction in crime related expenses and lost productivity. When health care savings are added in, every $1 invested in treatment for addiction yields a total return of $12 saved.
- Illegal drug facts have found that four out of ten teenagers reported having friends who use drugs. More than a quarter said someone has tried to sell them illegal drugs.
- In 1997, an estimated 2 million people sought treatment for their drug and alcohol addictions at approximately 1,200 drug rehabilitation clinics in the United States and Europe.
- In one study conducted at the National Addiction Center, 650 individuals with a heroin addiction committed more than 70,000 crimes in a three-month period.
- Illegal drug facts estimates that in 1997, more than 30 million people in the United States and Europe suffered from chronic alcohol and drug addiction. Of the 30 million approximately 22 million individuals had an alcohol addiction, 6 million individuals had a cocaine addiction and almost 2 million individuals had a heroin addiction.
- In a survey on illegal drug facts, more than 55% of the parents interviewed acknowledged that they had smoked marijuana sometime in their lives, and one out of five admitted using other illegal drugs.
- More than eight out of ten teenagers and their parents said illegal drugs are a major problem for teenagers nationally.
- Most prison inmates have a drug addiction.
- Illegal drug facts show that six out of ten teenagers said at least some students at their schools use drugs. Among high school students, the number was eight out of ten.
- The average individual with a drug addiction needs $200 per day to support his/her drug addiction. The average individual with a drug addiction has to steal around $1,000 worth of property and goods to raise the $200.
- Illegal drug facts report that there were approximately 250,000 emergency room admissions for cocaine overdose in 1997.
- Treatment is 15-17 times more effective than prison. For every crime that incarceration would eliminate, treatment would eliminate 15.
- Treatment of all addicts would save more than $150 billion dollars in social costs over the next 15 years.