Claim: Addicts and alcoholics cost the public £10 billion a year.
Fact-check: Ask Full Fact: Do addicts and alcoholics cost the taxpayer £10 billion a year? - Full Fact
Verdict: research estimated that public expenditure on people who are homeless, offenders, and/or drug misusers is roughly £10 billion a year in england. so it's not just an estimate of the cost of alcohol and drug addiction. the research describes that estimate as "indicative and not definitive", and says it's likely to be a conservative estimate.
Organisation: Full Fact
Author: Amy Sippitt
Date published: 2016-01-21T00:00:00