My current struggle: drug addiction.
No, not with me, but how to unpack why it is "bad". I'm trying to model its impact on a city. Here in San Francisco it's a huge issue.
Community impacts:
Society's degredation?
Government cost?
Economic overhead?
Personal:
Lowered potential in career, relationships and personal goals?
Increase in depression?
General unhappiness?
Thoughts?
@jurban A few summaries I've found.
https://drugrehab.org/how-does-drug-abuse-affect-society-and-you/
https://casapalmera.com/blog/how-does-drug-abuse-affect-society/
This article - https://www.shorelinesoberliving.com/social-effects-of-drug-abuse-on-the-community/ - includes some dollar amounts. That money could have been spent on housing, education, clothing, food, community building, etc.
@peterquirk
Thanks!
This is a powerful quote in the first article: "The costs associated with drug and alcohol use total nearly $600 billion in lost revenue, health care, legal fees, and damages each year. "
I'd like to know how that is broken down by demographics. So many of the overtly-addicted in San Francisco will never contribute, economically, to society ever again. But they are still a cost.
Others are compromising their ability to contribute. I suspect those are a larger population