ABUSE PREVENTION SHOULD BE PRIORITY

Substance abuse and addiction not only cause significant harm to Colorado
families, but also carry a hefty price tag for our community. Colorado
loses roughly $4.4 billion annually and Denver loses $1.5 billion annually
in productivity, medical costs and criminal justice costs, in addition to
the incalculable toll in human suffering.

Addiction is a humbling, painful disease that takes whatever life one has
and alters it to fit a new reality in which the addiction controls
behavior. Drug addiction is a brain disease. This is true of all harmful
addictions, including gambling, eating disorders, smoking, alcoholism,
prescription drug abuse, illegal drugs and even sex.

No one starts a behavior thinking it may result in a life-threatening
disease. But when these behaviors become unhealthy addictions, they take
over a person's brain to the extent that it is, in fact, a disease.

Almost everyone knows someone who has been touched by addiction.
Eradicating addiction is impossible, but reducing the harm caused by
illegal substance abuse is not. We can "push back" against these behaviors.
Education is key in addressing the misperception that some addictive drugs
are harmless. There is strong evidence that the more people are educated
about the individual risks of taking drugs, the less likely they are to
engage in the behavior.

Yet, despite substantial scientific evidence that treatment and prevention
programs are effective, Colorado and many other states still spend most of
their federal funding dealing with the consequences of abuse and addiction
rather than on preventing these problems. According to a study by Columbia
University, Colorado spends only 6 cents for every $100 in federal money it
receives on substance abuse research, prevention and treatment. This places
Colorado last among the 47 states represented in that study, in which the
average expenditure on these programs was $3.70 of every $100.

Tobacco and alcohol currently cause more harm to our community than all
illegal drugs combined. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death
and disease in Colorado, costing the state more than $1 billion in related
health care costs. Eighty to 90 percent of all adults who are currently
addicted to tobacco started smoking before they were 18 years old. More
than 20,000 Colorado children become daily tobacco users every year. Nearly
one in three will die prematurely from tobacco-related illnesses. In 2002,
the alcohol-related death rate was 24 per every 100,000 people.

Addiction creates a heavy burden on our neighborhoods through our health
care system, our criminal justice system, our school systems, our business
community, our human services agencies and our community-based
organizations. Substance abuse and addiction are also among the main causes
of homelessness and contribute to many illegal activities, including
prostitution.

There is scientific evidence that prevention and treatment services
effectively reduce the social and economic impact of drug abuse and
addiction. People who receive these services use drugs less often, engage
in criminal behavior less often, interact with health care systems less
often, and cause less harm to their communities. After treatment, the
number of clients on public assistance decreased 11 percent nationwide and
homelessness dropped 43 percent, according to a five-year evaluation
conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1992 to
1997.

A Colorado follow-up study demonstrated a 97 percent decrease in arrests in
all criminal offense categories following substance abuse treatment.

In Denver, we are "pushing back" against addiction:

Our school systems are developing and implementing programs to educate
youth about the harm caused by drugs.

Our city's Department of Human Services is working to help people who are
addicted and address the issue of substance abuse in relation to homelessness.

Our police department is implementing comprehensive training programs to
help patrol officers better identify and de-escalate mental health or drug
addiction situations.

The city and community partners created a program where 18- to 25-year-old
homeless addicts can get off the street and into housing and treatment.

The media are helping get anti-drug messages out onto our airwaves.

Our community-based organizations and foundations are finding avenues to
help people who are in harm's way because of addiction.

Substance abuse and addiction are pervasive problems that affect all
aspects of our society, and trying to solve the problems caused by
addiction can seem overwhelming. There is no magic bullet that will make
the problem go away, but we know that addiction is a treatable disease, and
substance use is a preventable behavior.

As a society, we must use what we know to protect our youth and others at
risk of addiction, and we must commit to increased funding for prevention
and treatment services and additional research that can help us further
address substance abuse and addiction issues.