The Addiction Treatment Industry tells you they have 50% to 75% success rate. NIABY.com tells you addiction treatments success rates are that less than 10%.
Why such a difference in "successful treatment" rates between NIABY and the addiction treatment industry claims?
The example NIABY presents here is from the United Kingdom (UK) National Treatment Agency (NTA) for Substance Misuse. Due to political pressure, the NTA is now required to monitor the results of its addiction treatment programs in an annual report called "Statistics from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS)." NIABY has examined these NDTMS reports for the last 4 years. 1
Addiction treatment programs often measure "successfully treated" as those who have completed an addiction treatment program. You can still be using drugs or alcohol and have "successfully completed" an addiction treatment program.
The NTA includes those who are not drug free as "successfully completing treatment." The NTA defines "successfully completing a course of treatment" to include not only addicts who became "drug free" but also addicts who are referred on still using drugs and addicts who have completed treatment but still are using drugs.
Source: NTA Annual Report 2007/08 "Effective Treatment, Changing Lives" P10
This above graph is from the 2008 NTA Annual Report. 2 Notice how the orange "drug free" portion of each bar is less than 25% of the "successfully completed treatment".
By defining "successfully completed treatment" to include those who are still using drugs, the NTA has been able to inflate the number of addicts successfully treated to 35,441 3 in 2007-08 when the actual number of successfully treated—drug free at discharge was only 7,324. 4
So, measuring properly, including everyone who entered treatment, how many addicts got drug free in the NTA treatment programs in the UK? There were over 200,000 5 addicts treated by the addiction treatment industry in the UK and only 3.6% 6 successfully completed drug free in 2007-08.
Source: Statistics from NDTMS Sept 2008 P12 P35 P39
In 2004-05 despite treatment 96.6% were still using drugs. In 2005-06 despite treatment 96.4% were still using drugs. In 2006-07 despite treatment 97% were still using drugs and in 2007-08 despite treatment 96.4% were still using drugs.
You often hear that "the solution" is to increase access to treatment and this will reduce the numbers of addicts going to prison. Even though there has been a huge increase in the number of addicts in treatment in the UK ...
Source: Statistics from NDTMS Sept 2008 P35
Source: Statistics from NDTMS Sept 2008 P39
You often hear the drug treatment industry claim that "the reason" so many fail in drug treatment fail is that the length of treatment isn't long enough. The NTA has significantly increased the length of time in treatment so that over 78% are now in treatment for longer than 3 months. This has made no difference in the proportion of addicts successfully treated—getting off drugs (drug free).
Sources: Statistics from NDTMS Sept 2008 P1
Statistics from NDTMS April 1 2006-31 March 2007 P1
Statistics from NDTMS April 1 2005-31 March 2006 P1
Statistics from NDTMS April 1 2004-31 March 2005 P2
The UK government spent £800 million (approx. $1.6 billion Cdn 8) on drug treatment in 2007-08. 9
In 2007-08 as 96.4% were still using drugs despite treatment, the cost of successfully getting one addict off drugs was approximately £125,000 ($250,000 Cdn 10).
Sources: Statistics from NDTMS Sept 2008 P35 P39. NTA Annual Report 2007/08 "Effective Treatment, Changing Lives" P10
They are creating a new position in the senior management of the NTA called "Director of Communications" - a spin doctor. 11 Then the NTA is going to organize a "publications and events team" 12 ... "to allow the NTA to lead the debate on drug treatment." 13
After 10 years, spending millions and millions £, increasing output (capacity) the UK taxpayer is becoming aware of the dismal treatment results the NTA is providing.
North American drug addicts are not any different than UK drug addicts. Our drug free treatment outcomes will be similar to the dismal results from the NTA, UK.
How many of these addicts, even if they are in treatment will continue to use drugs? Almost all of them. Drug treatment programs have less than 10% of addicts drug free at discharge when you define "successful completion" as getting clean and sober/drug free.
Without successful community addiction treatments programs - achieving abstinence and keeping it - any large community treatment facility/supportive housing built by governments and operated by Non-profit agencies, most patients in treatment will be using drugs and bringing all the problems of drug abuse into host residential neighbourhoods.
Published April 5, 2009.
