Addiction Treatment News
Half of Those Seeking Treatment for Addiction are Addicted to Both Drugs and Alcohol
Nearly Half of People Receiving Addiction Treatment Were Involved in Both Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Annual Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities Released
Nearly half of all 1.1 million people receiving treatment for drug or alcohol addiction were in treatment for both drug and alcohol abuse according to the 2002 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services released today by HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The survey of treatment services shows that there were 1,136,287 persons receiving substance abuse treatment on a typical day in 2002. Of these, 8 percent, 91,851, were under age 18. The lowest percentage, 21 percent, were in treatment for alcohol abuse alone, while 31 percent were being treated for only drug abuse and 48 percent were being treated for both. The survey was taken on March 29, 2002.
John Walters, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said: “We understand that drug addiction is a disease, but we also know that drug treatment works. That is why President Bush has provided such an historic level of leadership in working to expand treatment availability for those who have become enslaved by drugs and alcohol.”
“This survey tells us where the substance abuse treatment system is going, to help us analyze system trends and forecast resource requirements,” said SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie. “At SAMHSA, building treatment capacity is a top priority. We are hopeful that the President’s Access to Recovery program will be funded to allow an additional 100,000 people to enter treatment and rebuild their lives.”
The N-SSATS survey found that nearly half of all facilities, 49 percent, offered special programs for those diagnosed with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders. Over one-third of facilities, 37 percent, provided programs to treat adolescents. Special programs or groups for drugged or drunk-driving offenders were offered by 35 percent of facilities.
According to the survey, outpatient treatment was the most widely available type of care with 74 percent of facilities offering this level of care. Most of the patients in treatment on the survey date (90 percent) were enrolled in some type of outpatient care. Of these, 54 percent were in regular outpatient care. More intensive outpatient care was offered by 44 percent of facilities and was the mode of care for 12 percent of patients. Day treatment/partial hospitalization services were offered by 15 percent of all facilities, and these services treated three percent of patients. Outpatient detoxification was offered by 12 percent of facilities and treated two percent of patients. Opioid treatment programs were offered by 8 percent of facilities and 19 percent of all clients received outpatient methadone/LAAM maintenance at these facilities.
Residential detoxification was offered by 8 percent and hospital inpatient detoxification was offered by 7 percent, and each mode treated less than one percent of clients. About 8 percent of patients were in residential rehabilitation and less than one percent were in hospital inpatient rehabilitation.
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