Funding - Quitting The Habit: Substance Abuse

According to the 2000 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, in 1999, there were 14.2 million people age 12 and older using illicit drugs¹⁹ and 44.6 million who binged on alcohol at least once in the month prior to taking the survey. Bingeing is defined as drinking five or more drinks "at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other" on at least one day in the past 30 days.²⁰ According to Healthy People 2010, "alcohol and illicit drug use are associated with child and spousal abuse; sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection; teen pregnancy; school failure; motor vehicle crashes;…low worker productivity; and homelessness…. Long-term heavy drinking can lead to heart disease, cancer, alcohol-related liver disease, and pancreatitis. Alcohol use during pregnancy is known to cause fetal alcohol syndrome, a leading cause of preventable mental retardation." Healthy People 2010 lists substance abuse as the 4th leading public health concern.

The graphic shows the percentage of the population age 12 and older who binged on alcohol and who used illicit drugs, as reported in the 2000 National Survey. Over this time period, illicit drug use was down, but binge alcohol use fluctuated. Most recently, from 1999-2000, bingeing was on the rise. The chart also shows the Healthy People 2010 goals: to reduce the prevalence of binge drinking by 14.6% and the prevalence of illicit drug use by 3.9%.

Each year, the overall budget for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has gone up. This allowed the Administration to allocate more and more money to state treatment and prevention programs. However, in the fiscal year 2003 budget, even though the allocations include a $57 million increase, some state programs may have to be cut. Why?

The budget calls for a $126.6 million increase for treatment programs²¹, but cuts the budget for prevention programs by $45.2 million. And for the second year in a row, there is no allocation of federal monies for High Risk Youth Grants. Binge drinking among 12 to 17 year olds increased from 8% to 10.1% from 1998-1999, the last years for which data are available. That meant that a little over 2.3 million 12 to 17 year olds binged on alcohol in 1999. Illicit drug use among 12 to 17 year olds went down from 1997 and 1998, according to Healthy People 2010. But this report also states: "youth are experimenting with a variety of illicit drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, crack, heroin, acid, inhalants, and methamphetamines, as well as misuse of prescription drugs and other 'street' drugs. The younger a person becomes a habitual user of illicit drugs, the stronger the addiction becomes and the more difficult it is to stop use." A SAMHSA study to be released in 2002 found that High Risk Youth Demonstration Programs reduced the incidence of substance abuse among program participants by 11%. Even those who had already started using cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana benefited from the programs. In 1999, 2.3 million 12 to 17 year olds used illicit drugs.

Sources: Office of Applied Studies. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1998-2000, various publication dates. Retrieved August 28, 2002 from http://www.samhsa.gov/. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health, 2nd ed., November 2000. "Fiscal Year 2003 President's Budget: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)." APA Online. Retrieved August 30, 2002 from http://www.apa.org/ppo/funding/p03samhsabudg.html. SAMHSA. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "Over 1 Million People Receiving Addiction Treatment." Retrieved August 30, 2002 from http://www.samhsa.gov/news/content/nssats_press.htm. SAMHSA. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SAMHSA Fiscal Year 2003 Budget, February 12, 2002. Retrieved August 30, 2002 from http://www.samhsa.gov/budget/content/2003/2003budget-03.htm .