Treating Drug Problems: Volume 1

The large federal role in the drug treatment system was substantially reduced in the early 1980s, undercutting its ability to help communities respond to new challenges such as the crack-cocaine epidemic and the growing violence in drug markets.

How can drug treatment dollars be spent most equitably with the highest likelihood of beneficial results? With this basic question as its focus, Treating Drug Problems, Volume 1 provides specific recommendations on how to organize and fund the drug treatment system. Detailed attention is given to both public and private sources and their programs.

The book presents the latest data and analysis on these topics and more:

• How specific approaches to drug treatment fit into drug policy, including the different perspectives of the medical and criminal-justice communities.
• What is known about drug consumption behavior and what treatment approaches have proven most cost-beneficial.
• What areas need further research―including specifications for increased study of treatment effectiveness and drug use by adolescents and young women.

Dean R. Gerstein and Henrick J. Harwood, Editors; Committee for the Substance Abuse Coverage Study, Institute of Medicine