|
Newsbrief:
Why
Don't
People
Seek
Treatment?
12/26/03
Drug and alcohol abusers
are not seeking treatment because of the inability to stop using drugs,
the cost of treatment, and the associated stigma, the Alcoholism and Drug
Abuse Weekly reported late last month, citing a study from the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). According
to that study, some 23 million people meet diagnostic criteria for drug
or alcohol dependence, but are not getting treatment.
But a closer look at the
study shows that the vast majority of people diagnosed as needing treatment
under SAMSHA criteria disagreed with that diagnosis. The study found
7.7 million people it said needed treatment for drug abuse or dependence,
but only 6% of those people thought they needed it. The study found
17 million people it said were in need of alcohol treatment, but only 4.5%
of those agreed. It was that small percentage who formed the basis
for the study's conclusions.
The problem lies with SAMHSA's
reliance on the American Psychological Association's Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), which includes not only such non-controversial
symptoms as withdrawal and the inability to stop using, but also problems
with the law -- a function not of the properties of any particular drug,
but of that drug's prohibited status. Thus, for example, people who
continue to smoke marijuana after having been arrested or otherwise hassled
for it need treatment, or so the argument goes.
According to SAMHSA, last
year about 18% (1.4 million) of those it identified as needing drug treatment
received it. That number is three times as high as the number of
drug users who thought they needed treatment. Some drug users, of
course, are in denial about the seriousness of their substance abuse problems.
But in other cases, it may be some policymakers, analysts, judges and treatment
providers who are in denial about the lack of need or the overabundance
of coerced drug treatment commitments.
Visit http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/2k3/SAnoTX/SAnoTX.htm
to read "Reasons for Not Receiving Substance Abuse Treatment" online.
-- END --
|
Issue #317, 12/26/03
Message from the Executive Director: Another Year at DRCNet and in Drug Policy Reform |
Canadian Supreme Court Upholds Marijuana Law -- Cannabis Battle Heads Back to Parliament |
The New Jersey Weedman is Back! Forchion Announces House Bid Before Arrest at Liberty Bell Pot-Smoking Religious Demo |
Newsbrief: The Complete List of President Bush's Drug War Prisoner Pardons |
Newsbrief: Return of the Undead, Part I -- "B-1 Bob" Dornan to Challenge Rohrabacher in House Race, Attacks Medical Marijuana |
Newsbrief: Return of the Undead, Part II -- Arch-Drug Warrior McCollum Seeks Florida GOP Senate Nod |
Newsbrief: Prohibition-Terror Link? |
Newsbrief: Cable Giant Censors Medical Marijuana Issue Ads in New Hampshire |
Newsbrief: Todd McCormick Released from Federal Prison |
Newsbrief: Why Don't People Seek Treatment? |
Popular Television News and Drama Programs to Discuss Mandatory Minimum Sentencing in January |
BUSTED: New and Improved Video Offer from DRCNet |
DRCNet Temporarily Suspending Our Web-Based Write-to-Congress Service Due to Funding Shortfalls -- Your Help Can Bring It Back -- Keep Contacting Congress in the Meantime |
Perry Fund Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 School Years, Providing Scholarships for Students Losing Aid Because of Drug Convictions |
The Reformer's Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
