Year: 1999 Source: 13p. SIEC No: 20010663

This presentation described a recently developed set of guidelines for estimating the costs of substance abuse & presented findings from a cost estimation study using these guidelines. It was estimated that 739 deaths, 31,147 years-of-potential-life-lost, & 7,095 hospitalizations were attributable to illicit drug use in Canada in 1992 & that illicit drug use cost more than $1.37 billion to the Canadian economy. The most numerous causes of drug-attributable death are suicide, overdose, & AIDS contracted from sharing needles. (32 refs.)