Economic Benefits of Drug Treatment: A critical review of the evidence for policy makers

This report looks at the costs for different types of treatment and determines the cost effectiveness for each type of treatment based on its benefit cost ratio (total benefits divided by total costs).

Key points from the report include:

• Methadone Maintenance: weekly methadone program costs consistently ranged from $80 to $100/week per client.
• Outpatient (adults): costs ranged from $72 to $166/week for standard outpatient services. Outpatient treatment had by far the best BCR.
• Residential: average cost is $626 per week per client.
• Prisons: costs range from $41 to $77/week per inmate and lasts for an extended period of time. These costs are in addition to the costs of incarceration. 
• Drug Courts: the total cost of drug court treatment ranges from $3,603 to $11,978 per treatment episode.
• Outpatient (teens): average cost is $235/week.

This document is available at www.tresearch.org/archives/archives.htm.