4 ms·

California pays meth users up to $599 a year to get sober

1 points by DocFeind 2y ago

al_borland 2y ago
According to my friendly AI assistant... - A quarter gram of meth typically costs around $25. [1] - A meth user consuming a quarter gram of meth daily would spend around $9,125 per year on the drug. [1] It seems like the savings from not buying meth every day would be significantly more than what California is paying... which makes me question why pay at all? I get that additional isn't exactly a logic problem, but needing to get paid $599 to save $9,125 doesn't compute in my head if money is the motivator. [1] https://addictionblog.org/infographics/the-cost-of-meth-addiction-infographic/ https://addictionblog.org/infographics/the-cost-of-meth-addi...
- seo-speedwagon 2y ago
  It’s kind of like you’re asking why people in AA like getting their 5 year chip. Having an external “thing”, even if it’s of token monetary value, can be a huge motivation to keeping clean. It helps give focus and grounding and makes you feel like you’re working towards something in what can otherwise be a very long and lonely path to sobriety.
  - al_borland 2y ago
    The 5 year chip I get. That's like a trophy for accomplishing something and a reminder of how far you've come. Money is just money, it get's spent and it's gone. The article also mentions it coming as a lump sum. I'd be really worried that someone could clean up, get a pile of money dropped in their lap, and head out on a bender. If it's more about the external token item... then why not use a token, like AA? It would make the program dramatically cheaper to run.
    - seo-speedwagon 2y ago
      Dunno I can’t speak for the program, but it makes sense to me, the way the people the article interviewed talked. $10 or $11 for a week of being clean isn’t going to do much for anyone who doesn’t want to get sober but can be a big deal for those who do. Without getting into too much detail, this is a road I’ve been down too, tho not with either meth or AA. I think the biggest thing is, sobriety is usually about rearranging your entire life. For most addicts, a huge part, usually a majority, of your life and mental space is ensuring you’ll get your next drink/hit/whatever. Then when you try and quit you suddenly have this void where all the time you spent feeding your addiction, you just have nothing. It’s why so many programs like AA and rehab spend so much time giving alternative structures, until you can stand on your own and organize your own life. That’s why the guy saying that $11 each week kept him going rang really true to me. As for cost, like every study ever conducted shows the costs of diversion is vastly less than the material and social costs of incarceration. Think about it, for an entire year of peeing clean, the state gives this person $600-ish. Googling tells me that’s about the cost of 2 days incarceration in CA. edit: there’s some other points I didn’t really address. You can’t really stop someone from falling off the wagon and going on a very dangerous bender, short of actual incarceration (your old tolerance is lower now but you have the same habits so you can easily OD; sadly it’s not uncommon). But that’s not really the most helpful way to think about it. For the people who are trying to use this program to get clean, being treated like an adult and having the ability to structure payments how it works best for you is a good thing. It’s baby steps into self-management and planning.
reify 2y ago
cheap as chips! Cheaper than the cost of all the crime they conmmit and the cost of being sent to prison. £599.00 = about £50 a week. absolute peanuts. 2 grams of meth each week right there. Thats cost of about one week in prison here on Airstrip One imagine if there was a real commitment to help people get off drugs.

1 points by DocFeind 2y ago

According to my friendly AI assistant... - A quarter gram of meth typically costs around $25. [1] - A meth user consuming a quarter gram of meth daily would spend around $9,125 per year on the drug. [1] It seems like the savings from not buying meth every day would be significantly more than what California is paying... which makes me question why pay at all? I get that additional isn't exactly a logic problem, but needing to get paid $599 to save $9,125 doesn't compute in my head if money is the motivator. [1] https://addictionblog.org/infographics/the-cost-of-meth-addiction-infographic/ https://addictionblog.org/infographics/the-cost-of-meth-addi...

seo-speedwagon 2y ago
It’s kind of like you’re asking why people in AA like getting their 5 year chip. Having an external “thing”, even if it’s of token monetary value, can be a huge motivation to keeping clean. It helps give focus and grounding and makes you feel like you’re working towards something in what can otherwise be a very long and lonely path to sobriety.
- al_borland 2y ago
  The 5 year chip I get. That's like a trophy for accomplishing something and a reminder of how far you've come. Money is just money, it get's spent and it's gone. The article also mentions it coming as a lump sum. I'd be really worried that someone could clean up, get a pile of money dropped in their lap, and head out on a bender. If it's more about the external token item... then why not use a token, like AA? It would make the program dramatically cheaper to run.
  - seo-speedwagon 2y ago
    Dunno I can’t speak for the program, but it makes sense to me, the way the people the article interviewed talked. $10 or $11 for a week of being clean isn’t going to do much for anyone who doesn’t want to get sober but can be a big deal for those who do. Without getting into too much detail, this is a road I’ve been down too, tho not with either meth or AA. I think the biggest thing is, sobriety is usually about rearranging your entire life. For most addicts, a huge part, usually a majority, of your life and mental space is ensuring you’ll get your next drink/hit/whatever. Then when you try and quit you suddenly have this void where all the time you spent feeding your addiction, you just have nothing. It’s why so many programs like AA and rehab spend so much time giving alternative structures, until you can stand on your own and organize your own life. That’s why the guy saying that $11 each week kept him going rang really true to me. As for cost, like every study ever conducted shows the costs of diversion is vastly less than the material and social costs of incarceration. Think about it, for an entire year of peeing clean, the state gives this person $600-ish. Googling tells me that’s about the cost of 2 days incarceration in CA. edit: there’s some other points I didn’t really address. You can’t really stop someone from falling off the wagon and going on a very dangerous bender, short of actual incarceration (your old tolerance is lower now but you have the same habits so you can easily OD; sadly it’s not uncommon). But that’s not really the most helpful way to think about it. For the people who are trying to use this program to get clean, being treated like an adult and having the ability to structure payments how it works best for you is a good thing. It’s baby steps into self-management and planning.

reify 2y ago

cheap as chips! Cheaper than the cost of all the crime they conmmit and the cost of being sent to prison. £599.00 = about £50 a week. absolute peanuts. 2 grams of meth each week right there. Thats cost of about one week in prison here on Airstrip One imagine if there was a real commitment to help people get off drugs.