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Basic InformationLatest NewsHealth Tip: Medication and Substance Abuse RecoveryBeating Opioid Addiction Can Be Tough, Here's What HelpsComing Soon: A 'Pot Breathalyzer'?U.S. Opioid Deaths Take a Small Dip, as Fentanyl Leaves Deadly MarkOxyContin Maker Purdue Offering Up to $12 Billion to Settle Opioid Claims'Synthetic Pot' Laced With Rat Poison Lands People in the ERJudge Orders Johnson & Johnson to Pay $572 Million Over Opioid Drug CrisisAmerica Has a Huge -- and Very Costly -- Drug HabitAll U.S. Adults Should Be Screened for Illicit Drug Use, National Panel UrgesLethal Deception: Deaths From Cocaine Laced With Fentanyl on the RiseMany Young Americans Regret Online Posts Made While HighToo Few U.S. Opioid Users Are Getting OD AntidoteDrug Experimentation and Summer a Dangerous DuoMedical Marijuana Won't Help Ease Opioid Crisis: StudyOpioid Epidemic Doubled Number of U.S. Kids Sent to Foster CareKeep Unused Meds Out of the Hands of AddictsFDA Warns Two Kratom Marketers About False ClaimsFatal Opioid ODs Rise as Temperatures FallDrug ODs, Suicides Soaring Among Millennials: ReportLegalizing Medical Pot Won't Ease Opioid Crisis: StudyDrugstores Often Don't Have Opioid Antidote in Stock, Philly Study Shows'Secret Shopper' Study Finds Many Who Need Addiction Treatment Can't Get ItHealth Tip: Naloxone Fast FactsCould CBD Treat Opioid Addiction?Heroin ODs Have Started Declining in Some StatesQuantity, Not Type of Opioid Matters for Post-Op DependencyMore Than 600,000 Opioid Abusers Raising Kids in U.S.Many Drug Abusers Use Family Members to 'Opioid Shop'Poor, Minorities Shortchanged on Opioid Addiction TreatmentsDispensing Opioid Antidote Without a Prescription Might Save LivesFentanyl Becoming a Deadly Accomplice in Cocaine, Meth AbuseNot Just Opioids: Deaths Tied to Cocaine, Meth Are Soaring, TooMany Drivers Testing Positive for Marijuana, Even With Kids in CarFDA Approves 1st Generic Nasal Spray Against Opioid OverdoseAnother Cost of the Opioid Epidemic: Billions of Dollars in Lost TaxesNurse Practitioners Often Restricted From Prescribing Opioid TreatmentsIn Most States, Insurance Won't Cover Addiction TreatmentsOverdose Deaths From Fentanyl Soaring: ReportMany With Opioid Addiction Don't Get Meds That Can HelpVets Who Get Opioids From VA, Medicare at Higher Overdose RiskU.S. Deaths From Suicide, Substance Abuse Reach Record HighOpioid Overdose Deaths Quadruple, Centered in 8 StatesAmong Rich Nations, U.S. Has Highest Rate of Fatal Drug ODsFDA Fell Short in Preventing Fentanyl Abuse Crisis, Report ClaimsMore Car Crashes Tied to Drivers High on OpioidsPoor Whites Bear the Brunt of U.S. Opioid Crisis, Studies FindOpioid Addicts Are Overdosing on Diarrhea DrugMaking OxyContin 'Tamper Proof' Helped Spread Hepatitis COpioid Danger to Newborns Varies By RegionMany Addiction Centers Lack Anti-Opioid Meds: Study Links |
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Drug Addiction: How Big a Problem Is it?A. Tom Horvath, Ph.D., ABPP, Kaushik Misra, Ph.D., Amy K. Epner, Ph.D., and Galen Morgan Cooper, Ph.D. , edited by C. E. Zupanick, Psy.D.We have discussed that drug addiction is a specific type of addiction. The financial cost of addiction to the citizens of the United States is staggering. We can do no better than to quote the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), retrieved from their website: http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/understand.html
 "Drug abuse and addiction have negative consequences for individuals and for society. Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States, including productivity and health- and crime-related costs, exceed $600 billion annually (emphasis added). This includes approximately $181 billion for illicit drugs, $193 billion for tobacco, and $235 billion for alcohol. As staggering as these numbers are, they do not fully describe the breadth of destructive public health and safety implications of drug abuse and addiction, such as family disintegration, loss of employment, failure in school, domestic violence, and child abuse."
Data reported for 2010 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2011):
- 8.9% of the U.S. population aged 12 or older would meet the diagnostic criteria for a drug or alcohol use disorder (substance use disorder). This was an estimated 22.1 million persons. Of these, 2.9 million were classified with a substance use disorder of both alcohol and illicit drugs. 4.2 million were classified with a substance use disorder for illicit drugs but not alcohol. 15.0 million were classified with a substance use disorder for alcohol but not illicit drugs.
- Between 2002 and 2010, the number of persons with substance use disorders was stable.
- 23.1 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an alcohol or substance use disorder. Of these only 2.6 million people received treatment at a specialized addiction facility.
- Of the 20.5 million persons aged 12 or older in 2010 needing substance use treatment but not receiving it, 1.0 million persons (5.0 percent) reported that they felt they needed treatment for their drug or alcohol use problem. Of these 1.0 million persons who felt they needed treatment, 341,000 (33.3 percent) reported that they made an effort to get treatment, and 683,000 (66.7 percent) reported making no effort to get treatment.
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