Because of their increasing tolerance, victims of addiction will often need to purchase more and more of the substance before they begin to feel its effects. This means that even if the drug of choice is cheap, the costs of drinking and using it daily may soon pile up. Addiction usually costs people thousands of dollars each year, leaving addicts in debt if they don’t receive support.
Many addicts borrow money from loved ones or refuse to fulfill crucial financial commitments to fuel their habit. Worse still, most individuals with drug addiction problems often deplete their savings or retirement assets, sell belongings, and/or take out loans to sustain their habit. And addiction’s financial consequences may be exacerbated if legal or medical expenses arise due to the addict’s behavior.
Regardless of how much different drugs and alcohol cost, compulsive usage is always connected with addiction. The costs of these drugs will mount with continued usage, and evaluating how much you’re spending on your addiction may prompt you to question whether or not they are worth it.
Alcohol
Most alcoholics don’t have just one drink, and the prices of alcoholic beverages vary widely. Understanding that a cheap beer addiction can still harm your finances is important. Spending $60 every weekend on booze at bars and social events would total more than $3,000 annually.
However, many alcoholics continue to drink, resulting in much more financial losses through recurring binge drinking episodes that are likely to become habitual for the addict. Binge drinkers spend between $4,500 and $6,000 annually on alcoholic drinks.
Cigarettes
Cigarette smoking is an expensive habit that may rapidly get out of hand. Because most packs in the United States contain at least 20 cigarettes, many American smokers acquire the “pack-a-day” habit. A pack-a-day smoker should expect to spend $138 to $320 monthly on cigarettes or $1,600 to more than $4,000 annually.
It’s important to realize that none of these estimates consider the expenses of smoking-related health problems. Some possible consequences of smoking include lung illness, cancer, heart disease, blood clots, and asthma aggravation.
Illegal Substances
Many illicit and restricted medications are difficult to obtain without official authorization. These drugs include Marijuana, heroin, cocaine, opium, and other regulated medications. Because many users get these drugs via smuggling and illegal ways, their costs are substantially higher than legal options such as alcohol and cigarettes.
Marijuana is still considered potentially addictive, although it is not as addictive as other illegal substances. In most circumstances, one ounce of cannabis may cost more than $200; if you smoke four joints daily, that ounce won’t last you more than a week. Marijuana addicts spend about $7,000 each year on their habits.
However, the expense and risk of addiction associated with cocaine and heroin are far higher. For instance, one gram of cocaine could cost as much as $150 daily. And using this estimate, cocaine addicts are likely to spend anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 yearly. Those with serious addictions may spend tens of thousands of dollars on their habit yearly. While a single dosage of heroin may only cost $5 or $10, “die-hard” users spend $100 to $200 per day on the drug, amounting to more than $54,000 per year.
