We tend to think of addiction and homelessness as going together. However, the vast majority of “drug addicts” are fully housed and fully employed. When we add up the price of untreated addiction, it’s usually a formula that includes costs for:

• emergency medical care resulting from overdoses
• lost wages due to unemployment
• drug-related theft and crime
• law enforcement related to drug addiction
• legal and court costs resulting from drug crimes
• jail and/or prison for drug-related offenses

Many of these costs are easy to calculate because they are related to specific events, such as job termination, drug-related crime, and legal proceedings. These social costs are so significant that it pays for society to intervene to prevent and treat drug addiction.

Once again, however, for fully housed, fully employed drug addicts, none of the significant costs of their addiction are included in the tallies of what addiction is costing society. A new article in Business Insider tries to put a number on the cost of addiction in the workplace, and it is not small.

Reed Alexander, who usually covers investment banking for Business Insider, interviewed Nichole Fox, the vice president of Shatterproof. Shatterproof works directly with businesses to reduce the costs of addiction in the workplace.

Fox begins with the scope of the problem: Nearly 50 million Americans aged 12 and older have substance use disorder (SUD). These numbers are most likely from the SAMHSA 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. SAMHSA further breaks down the substances people have the most trouble with:

• 63.7 million tobacco/vape users
• 64.2 million used THC products last year
• 57.9 million binge drinkers last month
• 7.8 million people misused opioids last year
• 0.8 million people misused fentanyl last year

Fox says that about 70% of people with SUDs are employed. That’s 13.6 million full-time workers and nearly 10% of the American workforce. JAMA Network Open estimated the cost to employers for medical care for SUDs at $35.3 billion in 2018 alone.

It’s important to stress that this number is only for employees who seek employer-paid or insurance-paid treatment for SUDs. As Fox points out, due to stigma, the majority of employees suffering from SUDs try to keep it to themselves.

The medical costs of employee SUDs do not include other costs such as increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, or the quality of work performed. One shocking statistic is that nearly half of all workers’ compensation claims involve substance abuse! It pays for employers to help employees recover from SUDs.

Employees have one thing most beneficial in attempts to recover from addiction: a job! They are also likely to have the next most important thing, stable housing. With a foothold of housing and employment, it’s much easier to find and complete addiction recovery programs.

For employers, studies show that SUD treatment programs reduce absenteeism by up to 66%, reduce sick leave by up to 37%, and return $8.70 in lower insurance costs for every one dollar invested.

There’s good news at the end of the addiction treatment process for both employers and employees: Three-quarters (74.3%) of those who have had an SUD in the past have recovered or are in recovery, according to the SAMHSA report.

That means employers reduce costs and save lives when they invest in employee recovery programs. Now we need to help employees walk through that door and seek addiction treatment, without fear of reprisal, by speaking freely about the availability of care and sticking to the science of addiction treatment.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published December 9, 2025.

Sources:

“I work with companies to confront addiction in the workplace. The hidden crisis is costing corporate America millions,” Business Insider, November 30, 2025.

“Medical Costs of Substance Use Disorders in the US Employer-Sponsored Insurance Population,” JAMA Network Open, January 24, 2023.

“Workplace Supported Recovery: New NIOSH Research Addresses an Evolving Crisis,” CDC NIOSH Science Blog, November 30, 2022.

Image Copyright: Elnur.