Consumers Need Access To Substance Use Treatment
Ninety percent of people who need substance use treatment do not receive it. That is a fact that translates to more than 40,000 deaths a year in the US. There are many reasons for the lack of treatment for millions of people. Stigma of the disease does prevent families from seeking help. Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is the only disease that tells people they don’t have a disease. There is also tremendous denial among family members who want to protect their family members and are fearful about what will happen to them if the drug use is revealed. And they delay.
But even more damaging than stigma and fear is the myth that only rehab in a pleasant facility far away from home translates to successful recovery. This is both untrue and damaging because most people can’t afford rehab in a facility. Moreover, there aren’t enough beds to accommodate everyone who needs treatment.
The Surgeon General’s Report on Addiction November 2016 shows that there are many paths to recovery, and every person who seeks help is different.
The rehab myth also a damaging because people don’t know what other kinds of treatment are available to them. There is a lack of public education about what kinds of treatment do work. But even when people are aware that other kinds of treatment may help them, they don’t know how to access the treatment providers who offer the help they need. Alternate treatments (to rehabs) are not advertised on the Internet the way the well-financed referral sites for rehabs can.
Substance abuse costs our Nation over $600 billion annually and treatment can help reduce these costs.
Drug addiction treatment has been shown to reduce associated health and social costs by far more than the cost of the treatment itself. Treatment is also much less expensive than its alternatives, such as incarcerating addicted persons. For example, the average cost for 1 full year of methadone maintenance treatment is approximately $4,700 per patient, whereas 1 full year of imprisonment costs approximately $24,000 per person.
Drug addiction treatment reduces drug use and its associated health and social costs
According to several conservative estimates, every dollar invested in addiction treatment programs yields a return of between $4 and $7 in reduced drug-related crime, criminal justice costs, and theft. When savings related to healthcare are included, total savings can exceed costs by a ratio of 12 to 1. Major savings to the individual and to society also stem from fewer interpersonal conflicts; greater workplace productivity; and fewer drug-related accidents, including overdoses and deaths. National Institute of Drug Abuse
Armed with the information that treatment is worth the cost, funding for public information to access quality alternative treatment providers is desperately needed.
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