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Changing Substance Abuse Through Health and Social Systems pp 29–45Cite as

Questioning the Effectiveness of Addiction Treatments

What is the Evidence?

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Abstract

Some of the most significant economic and social problems facing society are associated with alcohol and drug dependence (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1991; Merril, 1993). In the United States alone, it has been estimated that alcohol abuse costs approximately $90 billion and that abuse of other drugs costs approximately $67 billion each year (Rice, Kellman, and Miller, 1991). In terms of public health and safety, many studies have shown that one fifth to one fourth of all deaths annually are associated in some way with alcohol, drug or tobacco use (Horgan, 1994). Finally, the social deterioration associated with substance abuse is illustrated by the fact that more than three-fourths of all foster children in the U.S. are the offspring of alcohol and/or drug dependent parents (Childrens Defense Fund Report, 1994).

Supported by Grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19106, USA

    A. Thomas McLellan

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  1. A. Thomas McLellan
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

    William R. Miller

  2. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA

    Constance M. Weisner

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McLellan, A.T. (2002). Questioning the Effectiveness of Addiction Treatments. In: Miller, W.R., Weisner, C.M. (eds) Changing Substance Abuse Through Health and Social Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0669-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0669-0_3

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