SearchAppropriations: Funding for Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Prevention and Research
Alcohol and drug addiction is a preventable and treatable disease - just like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. People with addictions can recover and have a meaningful life in the community - if they get the help they need.
- Addiction afflicts one in ten Americans and affects one of every four children; but only 11% of the 23.6 million people who need treatment for alcohol and drug problems receive it.
- Addiction treatment results are sustainable - studies have found that, one year after completion of treatment, there is a 67% reduction in weekly cocaine use, a 65% reduction in weekly heroin use, a 52% decrease in heavy alcohol use, a 61% reduction in illegal activity, and a 46% decrease in suicidal ideation.
- Addiction treatment has been shown to cut alcohol and drug use in half, reduce crime by 80 percent and arrests by up to 64 percent.
LAC conducts national advocacy to maintain and expand funding for drug and alcohol and HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research programs. Specifically, the Center advocates for increased funding for:
- The Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SAPTBG), is the foundation of the publicly supported prevention and treatment system in this country. SAPTBG funds are distributed through each state's Single State Authority (SSA) to over 10,500 community-based organizations in 60 eligible states, territories and tribes.
- The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), promotes the quality and availability of community-based addiction treatment services for individuals and families who need them. CSAT works with States and community-based groups to improve and expand existing addiction treatment services under the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program.
- The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). Discretionary funding through CSAP's Strategic Prevention Framework promotes the use of performance measurement by providers, expands collaboration across community agencies, and supports implementation of effective prevention programs at the State and community levels.
- The Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities State Grants Program, is the backbone of school-based prevention efforts in the United States, and supports community-based prevention programming throughout this country. The SDFSC program has had a significant impact on helping to achieve the 17 percent overall decline in youth drug use over the past three years, documented by the 2004 Monitoring the Future survey.
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to expand addiction treatment and prevention research. NIDA research has made extraordinary scientific advances in understanding the nature of addiction, such as those made through the use of imaging technologies and through the development of new treatment technologies and medications, such as buprenorphine.
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Research by NIAAA has expanded knowledge about how best to treat and prevent addiction to alcohol. NIAAA has conducted breakthrough research that has improved clinical practice, with much of the research focused on the genetics, neurobiology, and environmental factors that underlie alcohol dependence.
Click here for the Drug and Alcohol Field Funding Recommendations for FY 2010
Click here to learn more about the need for funding...
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