Social costs of addiction
Background
Social cost estimates can be viewed as the baseline for avoidable burden studies, which estimate possible savings with effective policy and programme implementation. Full social cost estimates are also useful for advocacy purposes, and the most effective strategies to reduce harm may be informed by quantifying the burden, calling for full estimates of the social costs of drug use.
LEADER work on social costs
Building on the experience of estimating the social costs of illicit drug use in three jurisdictions (Catalonia, Poland and Portugal) within the ALICE RAP project, and through systematic reviews of the literature on social costs (D1.1) and guideline documents to estimate these (D1.2), LEADER has developed a Guidance Pack (document and calculation templates) which updates and clarifies existing guidance on estimating the social costs of illegal drugs, and provides instructions and examples of estimating the social costs of harm to others than the drug user, a methodology rarely included in existing guidance.
The LEADER Guidance Video Tutorials
Video 1. Introduction to the LEADER Guidance Pack
Video 2. Contents of the LEADER Guidance Pack
- Report D1.1: Systematic review of cost estimate publications
- Report D1.2: Systematic review of existing guidance documents
- Guidance Document
PDF: Guidance Pack document for estimating the social cost of illegal drug use - Cost Estimate Templates
Excel: Guidance Pack templates for calculating social costs of illegal drug use
Repository of social costs references
Click on the links below to to see all references identified in the reviews related to:
- References: Methodology of social costs estimates of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use
- References: Guidance for estimating costs of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use
Other WS1 material
- D1.2 Presentation (in Spanish):recommendations for the development of studies on social costs of illegal drugs consumption, XXXIV Scientific meeting of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology jointly with the XI Congress of the Portuguese Association of Epidemiology, Seville, 14 -16/09/2016