In its latest Treatment Episode Data set (TEDS) report, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that the criminal justice system was the largest single source of referrals to substance abuse treatment, accounting for 37 percent of all admissions (approximately 671,000 of the 1.8 million admissions).
Five primary substances of abuse accounted for 96 percent of all substance abuse treatments admissions in 2007: alcohol, opiates (including heroin and prescription painkillers), marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Criminal justice system referrals were more likely than all other referral admissions to report primary alcohol abuse, marijuana abuse, methamphetamine abuse, and less likely to report primary opiate abuse.
While it is great to see the criminal justice system doing more referrals for addiction treatment instead of incarceration, it is still disturbing that only about ten percent of all admissions are into inpatient drug rehabs, and only about six percent go into long-term rehab programs. When the recovery method used is then taken into account, the number of people who remain drug-free out of the nearly two million admissions is shocking.
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