Who is Affected?
Who is Affected by Meth?
Utah
is one of the national leaders per capita in meth
production and use. It is the number one drug of
choice for all Utahns admitted to public substance
abuse treatment programs, increasing from 8.1
percent in 1995 to nearly 28 percent of all
admissions in 2006. Meth use and addiction cuts
across lines of social status, income level,
employment and gender - and places increasing stress
on the normal function of Utah life. Meth's Impacts on Women
Women comprise 64 percent of individuals who have used meth in the past 12 months. Of the women in treatment in Utah, nearly three-quarters of them are mothers, and just over seven percent are pregnant at the time of admission. Meth use can lead to loss of employment, possessions, appearance, family, friends, and children and even lead to the user's eventual death.
Meth's Impacts on Children
Since
women tend to be the primary caregiver in the home,
a mother using meth directly impacts the child. Meth
use often leads to child neglect that requires the
state to remove the child from the home and place
the child in foster care. In 2005, 1,801 children
were placed in foster care because their mothers had
substance abuse treatment issues, which cost the
state nearly $60 million. Hidden emotional and
mental cost to those children is unknown. Meth and Crime
51.4 percent of all treatment admissions for meth have been referred by the courts/criminal justice system. Last year, more than 40 percent of Drug Court participants reported meth as their primary drug of choice. Clients with arrest histories entering treatment had an average of three arrests in the six months before treatment began. During treatment, arrests dropped to 0.6 arrests per client.
Meth's Cost to Utah Taxpayers
The use of social services greatly impacts taxpayers of Utah. When meth is involved, state and county entities are forced to reallocate funds from other services they provide in order to handle the meth issue. Expenditures include costs for law enforcement who deal with crimes associated with meth; court systems that must determine action or punishment for the crime; and the costs of the correctional facility. Additionally, meth contributes significantly to more than $12 million of uncompensated emergency room costs and more than $33 million of uncompensated patient admission costs.
In Salt Lake County, family treatment costs $15,000 a year, whereas jail costs $25,700, plus an additional $33,000 to house each child in foster care. State-sponsored, methamphetamine-related foster care cost the state approximately $33 million in 2006.
