A-DES Knows Value of Prevention;
Letter Counters ‘Sun’ Columnist

It’s far cheaper to prevent substance abuse than it is to treat it.

That’s the message that was driven home by Alcohol-Drug Education Service in a letter to the editor printed Friday (March 26) in the Vancouver Sun.

A-DES Communication Director Jay Niver was responding to an opinion piece written two days earlier by Sun columnist Peter McKnight, in which he said that the “war on drugs” was hopeless and that legalization might be preferable (McKnight’s column).

Niver said that the way to stop drug dealers was to reduce the demand for their products, and preventive drug education can help do that – at a far less cost than treating addictions.

Here’s is the full letter that A-DES submitted to the Sun:

Better to prevent abuse

Columnist Peter McKnight’s assertion that drug prohibition is doomed to failure may or may not be correct. Unfortunately, he neglects to consider a major factor that gets lost in the all-or-nothing debate over legalization. That factor is prevention.

For less than $2 per student, Ministry-approved curriculum can provide evidence-based, preventive drug education in B.C. classrooms. For comparison, Vancouver’s Insite program spends about $540 per client (2008-09) so addicts can have a safe injection site.

To provide all 350,000 B.C. students in grades 4-10 with seven years of prevention education could cost less than $600,000. Insite’s yearly budget is nearly $3 million.

Treatment of existing problems is essential, but it might be wise to steer more resources toward the future – pay a little now instead of a lot more later.

Every British Columbian loses at least $1,400 yearly to the cost of drug, tobacco and alcohol abuse. Nationwide, the toll is almost $40 billion for healthcare, lost productivity and law enforcement, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

Liberal or conservative, the financial price of substance abuse is staggering. Clearly it is cheaper to prevent addiction than to treat it.

Reducing the demand for illegal drugs is the only way to impact suppliers. Education can work, as it has for tobacco – and the price is miniscule compared to the cost of a failed “war on drugs,” or one against users we’ll never wage.