RSS Feed
June 29th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda THURSDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) — About 40 million Americans
are addicted to cigarettes, alcohol or drugs, new research finds.
That represents about 16 percent of the U.S. population aged 12 and
older.
Another 80 million people — 32 percent of the population — are
“risky” substance users, defined as using substances in a way that
threatens health and safety.
Yet treatment is hard to come by, according to the study, which was
released this week by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
at Columbia University in New York City. Only about one in 10 people who
need treatment for their addiction actually gets it.
The lack of treatment is partially because treatment for addiction is
“disconnected from mainstream medicine,” according to a university news
release. Most health care providers are not trained to diagnose or treat
addiction. As a result, less than 6 percent of referrals to treatment
facilities for substance abuse come from health professionals.
Although doctors commonly screen for a variety of health problems,
including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, they rarely screen for
substance abuse. They instead treat the fallout of the addiction —
injuries, unintended pregnancies, heart disease and cancers, said Drew
Altman, chairman of the report’s National Advisory Commission.
“This report shows that misperceptions about the disease of addiction
are undermining medical care,” said Altman, president of the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health-policy analysis
organization.
Another issue is that many addiction-treatment providers are counselors
who have little or no medical credentials, researchers said. For example,
14 states don’t require licensing or certification of addiction
counselors, while six states have no requirements for minimum education of
counselors.
In 2010, $28 billion was spent on addiction treatment, which pales in
comparison to the spending on treatment of other diseases that affect
fewer people, the researchers said. For example, $44 billion was spent on
treating the 26 million Americans with diabetes, and $107 billion was
spent on treating the 27 million people with heart conditions.
More information
The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse provides more information on
drug abuse and addiction.
Posted in 
Tags: 
