More than $116 million of West Virginia’s healthcare system budget was consumed to address drug- and alcohol-related diseases in 2007, according to a new report released this month by the WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being. The report also projects the cost could increase to more than $201 million by 2017.

“The Financial Burden of Substance Abuse in West Virginia: The Healthcare System” -- available at www.PrevNET.org -- examines the impact of drug and alcohol use on West Virginia’s healthcare sector, which includes hospitals, prescription providers, substance abuse treatment centers, prevention providers, behavioral health providers, and federally qualified health centers.

It is the second in a series of reports examining the cost of drug and alcohol use in West Virginia. A comprehensive report, incorporating estimates from criminal justice, health care, education, child welfare, and workforce systems, will be produced at the end of the project.

The reports are part of a larger Family Funding Study project, which is funded with U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Block Grant money administered by the WV Division of Criminal Justice (DCJS).