Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990 TAG: 9003232624
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/8 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
"There is an urgent need to make additional treatment services available to all persons who need them, especially adolescents, pregnant women and IV [intravenous] and cocaine drug users," said John Gustafson, president of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors.
The estimated total costs of alcohol and drug abuse exceed $200 billion, but the Bush administration spends only about one-half of 1 percent of that amount on treatment, the group said in a report Tuesday.
Block grants, the states' main source of federal funds for treatment programs and mental health services, total $1.2 billion this year. The association said that figure should be boosted by at least $2 billion.
Federal spending for treatment "is at least partially based upon a suspicion that treatment programs for substance abusers are of dubious value," the report said.
However, the association said its analysis of more than 15 years of research found that substance abuse treatment increases employment, decreases crime, increases productivity and reduces health costs.
One study by the University of California at Los Angeles estimated that for every dollar spent for treatment services, $11.54 in social costs is saved.
The report said that 66,766 people in 44 states are on waiting lists for treatment.
by CNB