Costs of injecting drug use

Injecting drug use is a major problem worldwide. §This study quantifies the costs of injecting drug §use, including health costs, crime, deaths from drug §overdoses and social costs. Eighty-five drug §users are followed up for an average time of 57 §months on Methadone Maintenance Therapy in New §Zealand. Benefits of treatment include §reductions of drug use, crime, §prostitution, and improvements in health. A major §consequence of injecting drug use is hepatitis C §virus which infected 89% of the participants. This §study finds that it is cost-effective to provide §anti-viral therapy to drug users. Cost-§benefit analysis shows a savings in crime costs §of $8 for every $1 invested in methadone treatment. §The monetary costs of drug use and benefits of §treatment were similar for non-Mäori and for the §indigenous Mäori people of New Zealand. However, §Markov modelling showed that drug treatment is §associated with a greater saving of life for Mäori §people. This book will be useful for academics, §health professionals, drug & health policy analysts, §and for those interested in the war on drugs, law §enforcement and harm reduction policies.