"The financial costs of untreated opiate dependence to the individual, the family, and society are estimated to be approximately $20 billion per year."
Source
National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director, "NIH Consensus Statement: Effective Medical Treatment of Opiate Addiction," (U.S. Department of Health: Bethesda, MD, November 1997) Vol. 15, No. 6, p. 11.
http://consensus.nih.gov/1997…
