ARKANSAS SPENDS 7.7 PERCENT OF BUDGET ON PREVENTING ABUSE

Arkansas spends 7.7 percent of the state budget to combat substance abuse
and deal with its effects.

Directly and indirectly, the state spent $519 million in 1998 on items
relating to substance abuse, according to the study released Monday by the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
The total equals about $203 for each of the state's 2.5 million residents.
For the same year, Arkansas spent $398 million in its Medicaid program, and
$701 million on transportation. That's from a total budget of $6.658
billion, according to the study.

Portions of different state budget categories were included in the study as
being related to substance abuse.

The categories include prisons, courts, juvenile justice, education, health
and child and family assistance. The study said that, in 1998, Arkansas
spent $203 million on prisons, with 80 percent of that related to problems
caused by substance abuse.

The state spend $151 million on substance abuse-related education programs
- -- 9.8 percent of the state budget for public schools, the study said. The
study concludes that substance abuse and addiction drain budgets of state
governments, in addition to causing illness and death.