SUBSTANCE ABUSE AT ROOT OF MOST OF OUR SOCIAL ILLS

An Open Letter To The State Of Arizona

The chronic abuse of drugs and alcohol is implicated in virtually
every domestic problem Arizonans face.

These include crime, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, teen
pregnancy, chronic welfare, learning disabilities, poor schools,
disrupted classrooms and life-threatening illness ranging from cancer
and heart disease to AIDS and cirrhosis. It's the rare person among us
who doesn't know someone who hasn't abused alcohol or drugs.

How big is the problem?

It's huge, and includes binge drinking; the use of marijuana, cocaine
and crack; the abuse of opiates like heroin and stimulants like
methamphetamines; the misuse of prescription narcotic painkillers like
hydrocodone and Demerol; experimentation with hallucinogens like PCP
and LSD; dependence on sedatives like Valium and Xanax; and addiction
to inhalants like paint, butane and glue.

With little, if any, regard to age, ethnicity, household income,
employment status, educational achievement or marital status, the
persistent abuse of alcohol and drugs by Arizonans is causing
intractable problems in our homes, on our jobs and at our schools.
It's the root cause underlying a wide range of adverse behavioral,
social and economic consequences.

Arizona's consistent failure to invest in substance abuse prevention
and proven substance abuse treatment programs is a major contributor
to the continuation and growth of these problems.

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University:

. Of all of the tax dollars spent by states like Arizona, nearly 14
percent is spent dealing with the harmful effects of substance abuse.

. Of every such dollar a state like Arizona spends, only 4 cents is
spent to actually prevent or treat substance abuse.

. States spend 113 times more cleaning up the devastation that
substance abuse visits on children than they spend to prevent or treat
it in the first place.

. Taxpayers save $7 in "other" social service costs for each dollar
invested in successful substance abuse treatment.

Meanwhile, the ever-increasing cost of rampant substance abuse falls
squarely upon state treasuries.

Arizona funds a child welfare system encompassing everything from
basic social services and family court to foster care and adoption.

More than 80 percent of the child abuse and neglect cases in that
system stem from substance-abusing parents.

Arizona also funds a welfare system that serves, among many others,
alcohol- and drug-abusing mothers with dependent children.

Of the 2 million prisoners sitting in American jails, 1.8 million are
housed in institutions funded by states. This is significant because
almost three-quarters of the funds spent on jails and prisons in
Arizona are spent incarcerating people who have a history of drug or
alcohol abuse; were convicted of a drug-or alcohol-related crime;
were using drugs or alcohol when they committed their crime; or
committed their crime in order to purchase drugs or alcohol.

States like Arizona also invest hundreds of millions of dollars in
schools that cost more to operate because of drug- and
alcohol-dependent parents and kids. The potential for substance abuse
among children is particularly acute.

The plain facts are these:

. If children are raised in a family with a history of addiction to
alcohol and/or drugs, their risk of developing similar problems
themselves increases.

. Whether a family is headed by two biological parents, a single
parent, or some other primary caregiver, children raised in highly
conflicted homes are at increased risk for substance abuse.

. Poor parenting skills (e.g., the lack of clear behavioral
expectations, the failure of parents to monitor their children, and
the use of excessively severe or inconsistent punishment) also leads
to child substance abuse.

. Absent any other risk factors, just spending time around young
substance abusers increases a child's own risk.

Regardless of age, for those seeking treatment, getting the help they
need is difficult, if not impossible.

The most common impediments are lack of insurance coverage, lack of
program availability, lack of child care and limited access to mental
health services, family counseling and medical care.

If Arizona wants to reduce crime and curb child abuse, teen pregnancy
and domestic violence, it needs to do more to prevent and treat
substance abuse. It needs to embrace proven programs that consistently
produce positive results.

The responsibility for preventing and treating substance abuse as a
proven means of managing the staggering cost of its social and
economic consequences falls squarely on Arizona's Legislature.

We urge the Legislature to recognize and implement cost-effective
substance abuse policies and prevention programs to deal with these
problems.