Mental illness, substance abuse sap time, resources of Duncan PD
DUNCAN Much more often than people might realize, Duncan police officers and patrol cars have to leave town often on trips as far away as Fort Supply or Vinita to take people to facilities for mental health and/or substance abuse treatment. There are …
Read more on The Lawton Constitution

Fewer funds force drug treatment centers to close
They've been helping drug addicts in Hawaii for nearly 20 years. But because of a cut in government funds, the Big Island Substance Abuse Council is closing most of its facilities, including its only on Oahu. The real story is more people are asking …
Read more on KHON2

Comptroller: State funds misused at Yorktown substance abuse center
State auditors found misuse of $ 223,000 in taxpayer funds at area substance abuse centers run by Phoenix House, including an administrative assistant at the Yorktown site accused of taking thousands of dollars and using it to buy alcohol, cigarettes …
Read more on The Journal News | LoHud.com

Question by Evan: I NEED TO KNOW THE MONEY SPENT ON ALCOHOL REHABS YEARLY. RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.?
RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
The most recent I could find for the US has the figures for 1997:

“A study shows that the U.S. spent a combined $ 11.9 billion on alcohol and drug abuse treatment, while the total social costs were more than $ 294 billion. The results were part of the National Estimates of Expenditures for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1997, which was released at the end of April by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

The report, prepared by the MEDSTAT Group for SAMHSA, examines how much is spent in the U.S. to treat alcohol and drug abuse, how that spending has changed between 1987 and 1997, how much of the spending is done by the private and public sectors, and how substance abuse expenditures compare to spending for mental health and other health conditions in the U.S.”
http://www.usmedicine.com/newsDetails.cfm?dailyID=54

In NY:
“States report spending $ 2.5 billion a year on treatment. States did not distinguish whether the treatment was for alcohol, illicit drug abuse or nicotine addiction. Of the $ 2.5 billion total, $ 695 million is spent through the departments of health and $ 633 million through the state substance abuse agencies. We believe that virtually all of these funds are spent on alcohol and illegal drug treatment.”
Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets (New York, NY: CASA, Jan. 2001), p. 24.

States Waste Billions Dealing with Consequences of Addiction, CASA Study Says
May 28, 2009

The vast majority of the estimated $ 467.7 billion in substance-abuse related spending by governments on substance-abuse problems went to deal with the consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, not treatment and prevention, according to a new report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

The report, titled, “Shoveling Up II: The Impact of Substance Abuse on Federal, State and Local Budgets,” found that 95 percent of the $ 373.9 billion spent by the federal government and states went to paying for the societal and personal damage caused by alcohol and other drug use; the calculation included crime, health care costs, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and other consequences of tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction.

Just 1.9 percent went to treatment and prevention, while 0.4 percent was spent on research, 1.4 percent went towards taxation and regulation, and 0.7 percent went to interdiction.

“Such upside-down-cake public policy is unconscionable,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s founder and chairman. “It’s past time for this fiscal and human waste to end.”

CASA estimated that the federal government spent $ 238.2 billion on substance-abuse related issues in 2005, while states spent $ 135.8 billion and local governments spent $ 93.8 billion. The report said that 58 percent of spending was for health care and 13.1 percent on justice systems.

Researchers estimated that 11.2 percent of all federal and state government spending went towards alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and addictions and its consequences. The report said that Connecticut spent the most proportionately on prevention, treatment and research — $ 10.39 of every $ 100 spent on addiction issues — while New Hampshire spent the least — 22 cents.
http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/states-waste-billions-dealing.html

Key Findings

Of the $ 3.3 trillion total federal and state government spending, $ 373.9 billion –11.2 percent, more than one of every ten dollars– was spent on tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction and its consequences.

The federal government spent $ 238.2 billion (9.6 percent of its budget) on substance abuse and addiction. If substance abuse and addiction were its own budget category at the federal level, it would rank sixth, behind social security, national defense, income security, Medicare and other health programs including the federal share of Medicaid.

State governments spent $ 135.8 billion (15.7 percent of their budgets) to deal with substance abuse and addiction, up from 13.3 percent in 1998. If substance abuse and addiction were its own state budget category, it would rank second behind spending on elementary and secondary education.

Local governments spent $ 93.8 billion on substance abuse and addiction (9 percent of their budgets), outstripping local spending for transportation and public welfare.¹

For every $ 100 spent by state governments on substance abuse and addiction, the average spent on prevention, treatment and research was $ 2.38; Connecticut spent the most, $ 10.39; New Hampshire spent the least, $ 0.22.

For every dollar the federal and state governments spent on prevention and treatment, they spent $ 59.83 shoveling up the consequences, despite a growing

Add your own answer in the comments!

Question by Popcorn: How to work with drug addicts?
I thought of working with drug addicts today, like how would I get to that position? What sort of jobs are available in rehab centers and drug treatment centers? What type of degrees would I need to get?

Best answer:

Answer by ThirtyEightSnub
Education Requirements for a job as a substance abuse counselor depend on the hiring agency. Some counselors have a high school diploma and
certification while others have a bachelor’s degree or
master’s degree. Since some of the best substance
abuse counselors are those who have overcome addiction themselves, this is one of the few jobs
where a degree from the school of hard knocks can
outweigh university schooling. Counselors with more
education will be trusted with less immediate
supervision and licensed counselors can provide
one-on-one counseling.

Add your own answer in the comments!

Question by Maryy: What percent of rehabilitated people actually are cured?
ok so this is for a project….
does anyone know what percent of rehabilitated people get out and dont do the same mistake agian??? (i.e.- they would use drugs daily, went to rehab, then when they got out they quit completly)
i searched yahoo, google, and ask jeeves. i did all of my project and this is just a small part of it wich isnt really gonna be graded so keep your useless coments to yourself

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
Rehabs often claim amazing results, but the reality is less than spectacular.

According to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_addiction
“The effectiveness of alcoholism treatments varies widely. When considering the effectiveness of treatment options, one must consider the success rate based on those who enter a program, not just those who complete it. Since completion of a program is the qualification for success, success among those who complete a program is generally near 100%. It is also important to consider not just the rate of those reaching treatment goals but the rate of those relapsing. Results should also be compared to the roughly 5% rate at which people will quit on their own. A year after completing a rehab program, about a third of alcoholics are sober, an additional 40 percent are substantially improved but still drink heavily on occasion, and a quarter have completely relapsed.”

That estimate is based on information from Dr. Mark Willenbring of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and in my opinion, optomistic.

” About 80 percent of addiction patients will relapse, studies suggest, and long-term success rates for treatment are estimated at 10-30 percent.
“The therapeutic community claims a 30 percent success rate, but they only count people who complete the program,” noted Joseph A. Califano Jr., of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. “Seventy to eighty percent drop out in three to six months.” ”
http://www.addictioninfo.org/articles/1633/1/Little-Evidence-that-Costly-Treatment-Programs-Work/Page1.html

90-95% of rehabs in the US are 12step-based. The rest are Scientology or religion-based.

The 12step treatment method has been shown to have about a 5% success rate, the same as no treatment at all:

Although the success rate is the same, AA harms more people than no treatment:
1) Dr. Brandsma found that A.A. increased the rate of binge drinking, and
2) Dr. Ditman found that A.A. increased the rate of rearrests for public drunkenness, and
3) Dr. Walsh found that “free A.A.” made later hospitalization more expensive, and
4) Doctors Orford and Edwards found that having a doctor talk to the patient for just one hour was just as effective as a whole year of A.A.-based treatment.
5) Dr. George E. Vaillant, the A.A. Trustee, found that A.A. treatment was completely ineffective, and raised the death rate in alcoholics. No other way of treating alcoholics produced such a high death rate as did Alcoholics Anonymous.
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-letters85.html

1) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Brandsma
2) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Ditman
3) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Walsh
4) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Orford
5) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Vaillant

Add your own answer in the comments!

Question by Zugoo: Questions about drug abuse?
Hello, i have a project about drugs, but i need some questions to write about before i start.
Does anyone have any idea for some questions about how to fight drug abuse by teenagers?

Thank you!

Best answer:

Answer by Casey
Projects start with research.
Google ” Illegal drugs and teens”

or “Is marijuana addictive for some all or none.”

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/a/bla…

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/pot/f/mjp…

http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/mariju…

http://www.5min.com/Video/Long-term-Affe…

Most Illegal Drug Users Are Employed
Other NSDUH findings included:
•Of unemployed adults, 18.5 are illicit drug users.
•Only 8.8 percent of full time employees are drug users.
•9.4 percent of part-time employees are drug users.
•Most illegal drug users (13.4 million) are employed.
•10.2 million people drive under the influence of drugs.
Sources:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings” Sept. 6, 2007.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “New National Survey Reveals Drug Use Down Among Adolescents in U.S.” Sept. 6, 2007.

Marijuana rehab Google. http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv1-&p=%20marijua%20rehab.&ei=UTF-8&type=

“Should the marijuana law have a criminal charge applied if under 10 mgms., or should marijuana be decriminalized under 10 mgs – only getting a ticket like a traffic ticket?”

Add your own answer in the comments!

Jaguars receiver Justin Blackmon suspended for substance abuse
Multiple DUIs might have landed Blackmon in the league's confidential substance-abuse program. The suspension leaves a shaky Jaguars offense even thinner for the first month of the season. Blackmon had 64 catches for 865 yards and five touchdowns in …
Read more on Detroit Free Press

Substance abuse program focus
Details: Free admission, snacks and refreshments; Q&A session to follow. … PLYMOUTH — Tina George, a drug-an- alcohol counselor from Reading, says prevention and good parenting are the keys in keeping children from abusing alcohol and/or drugs.
Read more on Wilkes Barre Times-Leader