Nora's Blog Investing in Prevention Makes Good Financial Sens April 28, 2022 By Dr. Nora Volkow You can't put a dollar value on the losses American families have suffered due to the addiction and overdose crisis. A life lost to overdose is irreplaceable, and the costs to happiness, success, and well- being of those living with addiction are similarly overwhelming and incalculable. Yet, funds are finite, and public Getty Images/sanjeri health decisions do carry cost implications. When policymakers and community leaders can translate the human benefits of effective treatment and prevention measures into some quantifiable return on that investment, it can be a lever to shift public health policies. Recently in the journal Prevention Science, a group of researchers funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) published an analysis of the costs to North Carolina healthcare payers for hospital charges potentially relating to higher-risk behaviors in patients aged 9-18 (i.e., pre-adolescents and adolescents) in 2012. Charges included care for injuries from violence, accidents, or poisoning; care relating to sexual activity. substance use, or psychiatric disorders; and charges related to suicide or self-inflicted injury.