A study by the nonprofit research think-tank, RAND Corporation under the name of ‘The Economic Cost of Methamphetamine Use in the United States, 2005′ estimated that the economy may have taken a 23.4 billion dollar hit in 2005 accounting for the costs of addiction, premature death and medical care.

This study marks the first national estimate on the economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States; factoring for uncertainty, the study pinned the price of the drug use between $16.2 billion and $48.3 billion, citing a flat estimate of $23.4 billion.

“The analysis considers a wide range of consequences due to meth use, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment, and aspects of lost productivity, crime and criminal justice, health care, production and environmental hazards, and child endangerment. Other potential harms of meth, however, could not be included due to a lack of scientific evidence or to data issues,” said the study’s abstract, “one unusual cost captured in the analysis is that associated with the production of meth, which requires toxic chemicals that can result in fire, explosions, and other negative events.”

The study was funded by the nonprofit Meth Project Foundation, a group targeted towards reducing methamphetamine use. Funding was additionally provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

A number of indicators suggest that methamphetamine use, which comes with a very high economic cost, is concentrated significantly within Hawaii and Arizona, while the drug’s use across the country is relatively uncommon, it may have strong negative impact on certain communities.

The study by Nancy Nicosia, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Beau Kilmer, Russell Lundberg, and James Chiesa is available at the RAND Corporation’s website, free of charge.

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