
How many people go to substance abuse treatment in the US?
There were over 1.35 million clients at substance abuse treatment facilities in the U.S. in 2017, a large portion of whom had diagnosed co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders . Substance abuse treatment has become a business in the United States, with organizations operating multiple facilities in numerous states.
How many Americans are diagnosed with addiction each year?
21 million Americans suffer from addiction. Just 3,000 physicians are specially trained to treat them. | AAMC 21 million Americans suffer from addiction. Just 3,000 physicians are specially trained to treat them.
How many physicians are trained to treat addiction?
21 million Americans suffer from addiction. Just 3,000 physicians are specially trained to treat them. Susan Scutti, Special to AAMCNews. December 18, 2019. If enacted, the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 would add 1,000 more federally-funded residencies in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine.
What are the largest addiction treatment centers in the United States?
American Addiction Centers, one of the largest treatment organizations in the U.S., reported revenue of almost 296 million dollars in 2018, a substantial increase from the 212 million dollars reported in 2015. In addition, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation served a total of 25,495 patients in 2019, compared to 12,366 in 2011.

What percent of the population has a drug addiction?
The study, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, found that about 4 percent of Americans met the criteria for drug use disorder in the past year and about 10 percent have had drug use disorder at some time in their lives.
How many people get addicted to drugs in the US?
There are approximately 20 million individuals in the US with a substance use disorder. In response, thousands of studies have been conducted on the treatment of this enormous public health problem.
What percentage of those with substance abuse disorder receive treatment?
Only about 10 percent of people with a substance use disorder receive any type of specialty treatment. Further, over 40 percent of people with a substance use disorder also have a mental health condition, yet fewer than half (48.0 percent) receive treatment for either disorder.
How many Americans are in recovery from a substance use disorder?
Of those reporting a substance use problem in their lifetime, 74.8% reported that they were in recovery or recovered from their substance use problem, translating to approximately 20.5 million adults in the United States.
What percentage of teens use drugs?
In 2021, 32 percent of 12th graders, 19 percent of 10th graders, and 10 percent of 8th graders said they used illicit drugs in the past year.
How many people in the US use drugs in 2020?
Based on data collected nationally from October to December 2020, it is estimated that 25.9 million past-year users of alcohol and 10.9 million past-year users of drugs other than alcohol reported they were using these substances “a little more or much more” than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
How many people needed treatment for substance abuse in 2017?
In 2017, an estimated 20.7 million people age 12 and older needed treatment for a substance use disorder. Only 4 million people received treatment, or about 19% of those who needed it. 1
How many people have substance use disorder in 2017?
In 2017, about 9.4% of men and 5.2% of women age 12 and older had a substance use disorder. 7. Men may be more likely to abuse illicit drugs than women, but women may be just as prone to addiction as men when they do abuse them. 8.
What are the statistics on drug use?
Statistics on Drug Addiction 1 According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 19.7 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2017. 1 2 Almost 74% of adults suffering from a substance use disorder in 2017 struggled with an alcohol use disorder. 1 3 About 38% of adults in 2017 battled an illicit drug use disorder. 1 4 That same year, 1 out of every 8 adults struggled with both alcohol and drug use disorders simultaneously. 1 5 In 2017, 8.5 million American adults suffered from both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders. 1 6 Drug abuse and addiction cost American society more than $740 billion annually in lost workplace productivity, healthcare expenses, and crime-related costs. 2
What is the relapse rate for substance use disorders?
The relapse rate for substance use disorders is estimated to be between 40% and 60%. This rate is similar to rates of relapse for other chronic diseases such as hypertension or asthma. 19
What were the most common prescription drugs used in 2017?
The most common types of prescription drugs abused in 2017 were pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. 7. In 2017, about 1.7 million people age 12 and older had a pain reliever use disorder, or about 0.6% of this population. 1.
What are the factors that increase the risk of addiction?
Environmental factors that may increase a person’s risk of addiction include a chaotic home environment and abuse, parent’s drug use and attitude toward drugs, peer influences, community attitudes toward drugs, and poor academic achievement. 3.
How many college students smoke marijuana in 2014?
Almost 6% of full-time college students in the United States were daily marijuana smokers in 2014. This is more than triple the number of daily smokers in this population 20 years prior. 14
How many questions are asked in the substance use evaluation?
The evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are intended to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of a substance use disorder. The test is free, confidential, and no personal information is needed to receive the result.
What is the Scientific American article on relapse?
The Scientific American article on relapse references an earlier SA article on “ do-it-yourself cures ” for addiction , which summarizes a critical problem when considering the various studies and their conflicting messages about treatment success:
How should rehab programs be evaluated?
With all this in mind, how can – and should – rehab programs be evaluated? Treatment centers should be judged on the quality of the care they provide, even after treatment, not merely the quantity of clients they see. What former clients have to say, via personal recommendations and testimonials, can say much more about a facility than an impressive but ill-defined “90 percent success rate.”
Is rehab a success story?
But since they finish treatment, it’s enough for the facility to consider this a “success” story. As a result, it’s essential that rehab centers use a different definition of success rather than simply finishing the program.
Is addiction a problem in rehab?
The insidious nature of addiction adds to the problem of defining success in rehab. Some patients simply go through the motions of treatment, doing and saying anything just to graduate from their program, if it means getting back into the outside world where they can resume their drug consumption.
Can a medical professional diagnose substance use disorder?
Disclaimer: Only a medical or clinical professional may diagnose a substance use disorder. This assessment may serve as an indicator of a potential addiction but should not replace a diagnosis from a professional treatment provider.
Is there a standard definition of rehab?
There is no standard definition of rehab, so there is no standardized way to measure the success of addiction centers. Many base their success rates on unreliable metrics, such as: A better approach involves judging the actual quality of care a facility provides, both during and after the formal treatment period.
How many people need substance abuse treatment in 2019?
According to SAMHSA, in 2019, 7.8 percent of people aged 12 or older (or 21.6 million people) needed substance use treatment in the past year. Of these 21.6 million, 4.2 million received treatment in that time period, with only 2.6 million receiving it at a specialty treatment facility (2020).
How many people died from opioids in 2018?
Opioids were involved in nearly 47,000 deaths in 2018, which is nearly six times the number of opioid-involved overdose deaths in 1999.10
How many people die from alcohol?
An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. 17
What is an opioid?
Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illicit drug heroin as well as the licit prescription pain relievers oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and others. Opioid pain relievers are generally safe when taken for a short time and as prescribed by a doctor, but they can be misused.
What is Addiction?
Addiction, or Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a serious social, economic, and public health crisis that is not adequately addressed in public policy or treatment delivery. It is a primary and chronic disease, centered in the brain, with psychological and social components.
Solving the US Addiction Crisis
Renowned scholar and author of NAATP’s history, William White, said that the U.S. has tried to arrest and incarcerate our way out of the addiction crisis.
How many people have substance use disorder?
21.2 million Americans have a substance use disorder. In 2018, just 11% of those patients received the treatment they needed. And one in five people wrestling with an addiction say they do not know where to turn for help. In many places, there’s no one nearby with specialized expertise.
How many doctors are certified in addiction medicine?
Just 1,883 physicians nationwide are certified in addiction medicine, while an additional 1,288 physicians are qualified to practice addiction psychiatry, according to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Meanwhile, the American Board of Pain Medicine counts just 2,200 certified and practicing pain management physicians.
Why are there no physicians for substance use disorders?
The lack of physicians with specialized expertise in treating substance use disorders is due to a multitude of factors , not least of which is a scarcity of residencies in addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry. The Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 would create 1,000 new residencies in those subspecialties and pain medicine.
Why are there no physicians with specialized expertise in treating substance use disorders?
The lack of physicians with specialized expertise in treating substance use disorders is due to a multitude of factors , not least of which is a scarcity of residencies in addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry. The Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 would create 1,000 new residencies in those subspecialties and pain medicine.
Why should doctors be trained in addiction?
Teitelbaum argues that all physicians should receive training in order to be able to “spot the patient,” including those at high-risk, and then intervene and prevent the onset of illness. After all, this is not only about the current crisis of opioid addiction, he says. Drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine have and will continue to be abused by patients, so doctors need to understand addiction medicine overall.
How many doctors are trained to treat opioids?
Just 3,000 physicians are specially trained to treat them. If enacted, the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 would add 1,000 more federally-funded residencies in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine. In the meantime, academic medical centers are training other physicians to treat patients.
How many medical education positions will be added to the opioid workforce?
Bipartisan legislation, in the form of the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, would add 1,000 graduate medical education positions over the next five years in hospitals that have, or are in the process of establishing, accredited residency programs in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, or pain medicine. The legislation, which would boost the ...
How many people needed substance abuse treatment in 2015?
The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data indicate that 8.1 percent or 21.7 million people aged 12 or older needed substance use treatment in the past year. In 2015, an estimated 2.3 million people aged 12 or older who needed substance use treatment received treatment at a specialty facility in the past year.
What percentage of adults needed treatment for substance use issues in 2015?
In 2015, about 96.0 percent of the adults who needed treatment for a substance use issue were defined as such because they had an SUD in the past year, regardless of whether they received substance use treatment at a specialty facility.
How does NSDUH classify people as needing substance use treatment?
NSDUH classifies people as needing substance use treatment if they met the criteria for having SUD 10 in the past year (based on symptoms they report) or if they received substance use treatment at a specialty facility in the past year. 11 In 2015, an estimated 21.7 million people aged 12 or older needed substance use treatment in the past year (Figure 1). Stated another way, about 8.1 percent of the population aged 12 or older needed substance use treatment in the past year. SUD is defined as meeting criteria for illicit drug or alcohol dependence or abuse based on definitions found in the 4 th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). 10
How many adolescents do not receive substance abuse treatment?
Of the estimated 1.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 who needed but did not receive substance use treatment at a specialty facility in the past year, 17,000 (1.4 percent) perceived a need for substance use treatment.
What is a substance use disorder?
Substance use disorders (SUDs) represent clinically significant impairment caused by the recurrent use of alcohol or illicit drugs (or both), including health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home. 1 The consequences of SUD can be costly to people and the nation as a whole because they are often associated with negative outcomes, such as involvement with the justice system, 2,3 occurrence of chronic health conditions, 4 and poorer health outcomes. 5
How do people recover from substance abuse?
Although there are benefits to getting substance use treatment, recent research indicates that many people do not get the treatment they need. 1 According to the 2016 National Drug Control Strategy, a leading indicator of unmet substance use treatment need is the number of people who need substance use treatment but do not receive it at a specialty facility. 6 The overall health of the nation are improved by the extent to which the population has access to needed substance use treatment. Hence, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states that recovery is built on access to evidence-based clinical treatment and recovery support services for all populations. 7
How is the extent of the unmet substance use need measured?
The extent of the unmet substance use treatment need in the United States is measured by calculating the number of people aged 12 or older who were classified as needing substance use treatment but who did not receive substance use treatment at a specialty facility in the past year. This section focuses on the receipt (or lack of receipt) ...
How much money does addiction treatment make?
American Addiction Centers, one of the largest treatment organizations in the U.S., reported revenue of almost 296 million dollars in 2018, a substantial increase from the 212 million dollars reported in 2015.
How does the US cope with drug abuse?
The United States continues to cope with drug use among adults and adolescents, with the ongoing opioid epidemic a reminder of the dangers of substance abuse and the damage to individuals and society that it can cause. In recent decades, policies have focused increasingly on the treatment of such abuse instead of on punishment, with treatment programs and facilities becoming the accepted means of tackling addiction. There are many types of substance abuse treatments and rehabilitation programs and facilities in the United States for various substance abuse and addiction problems. Treatment for substance abuse disorder can involve individual or group counseling, the use of medication, outpatient treatment, short-term residential treatment, or long-term residential treatment. In 2018, there were 14,809 substance abuse facilities in the U.S., with the highest number found in the state of California.
