Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 Source: Lincoln Journal Star (NE) Copyright: 2001 Lincoln Journal Star Contact: PO Box 81609, Lincoln, NE 68508 Fax: (402) 473-7291 Feedback: http://www.journalstar.com:80/info/about_ljs/letform Website: http://www.journalstar.com/ Author: Joe Ruff, Associated Press STUDY: SUBSTANCE ABUSE COSTS 8 PERCENT OF BUDGET OMAHA - Nebraska spent about 8 percent of its budget in 1998 on the costs incurred by drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, a private study estimates. The state spent $291 million, or $176 per person, on the direct and indirect influence of substance abuse costs, said the study released Monday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The study, which recommends greater investment in prevention and treatment programs, particularly in prisons, said that out of each dollar spent in Nebraska on substance abuse costs, only 3 cents went to treatment. About 6 cents of every dollar went into regulation and compliance, the study said, and about 91 cents went into the burden that drugs place on public programs, including the adult and juvenile justice systems, health, education and family assistance. The study used data on direct costs, such as prevention programs and health care, and indirect costs, including estimates on special education costs for students suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome and drug-related violence requiring more money on school security and repairs. Gov. Mike Johanns said he is determined to spend more in Nebraska on treatment and prevention of drug abuse. "This is truly a 'pay me now or pay me later' proposition," Johanns said Sunday. "If not prevented, you will pay for it in an aftershock kind of way." Johanns has proposed spending $4.1 million over the next two years for development and expansion of substance abuse and mental health treatment programs for youthful offenders. The package also includes $4 million for counties to develop community-based programs to help young offenders. "Those young people out there suffering from untreated mental illness often will treat themselves with drugs and alcohol," Johanns said. Johanns also wants to spend $6 million in the next two years from tobacco settlement money for improvements to mental health programs, and he is looking at ways to improve substance abuse programs in the adult prisons. President Bush on Monday established a White House office that would distribute billions of dollars to religious groups and charities over the next 10 years. One role for the groups would be to administer drug treatment programs. Joseph A. Califano Jr., the president of the center that issued the drug costs report, said Bush's plan would be "a big help." It was "long overdue to get the faith community involved with substance abuse prevention," Califano said at a news conference in Washington. With a population of 1.7 million people, Nebraska's $291 million in substance abuse costs in 1998 paled in comparison with $8.7 billion spent by New York. That state also spent about 18 percent of its budget on such costs. Substance abuse cost estimates were lowest in Puerto Rico at 6.1 percent of its budget, and South Carolina, at 6.6 percent, the study said. North Dakota spent the least per person on substance abuse-related costs, at $155, followed by $158 in South Carolina, $173 in Tennessee and $176 in Nebraska and South Dakota. The District of Columbia topped that list, spending $812 per resident. Nationally, states spent about as much dealing with the costs of drug abuse and cigarettes as they spent on higher education, or about 13 percent of their budgets, the study said. About 29 percent of Nebraska's budget, however, went into higher education, the study said, while 12 percent went into transportation and 7.7 percent went into Medicaid. About 8.2 percent of Nebraska's budget went into the costs of substance abuse. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D