Most Americans know someone personally who is addicted to alcohol or drugs and they are worried about access people have to affordable treatment. And, most people support including treatment in national health care reform. These opinions are shared across the board—regardless of race, age, income and geographic location.
Results of a new national poll conducted by Lake Research Partners for the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap initiative confirm what we suspected: Most Americans know someone personally who is addicted to alcohol or drugs and they are worried about access people have to affordable treatment. And, most people support including treatment in national health care reform. These opinions are shared across the board—regardless of race, age, income and geographic location.
Among the key findings of the national poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners:
• Three-quarters of Americans (76%) know someone personally who has been addicted to alcohol or drugs. Personal experience with addiction spans all demographic groups.
• Half of Americans (49%) do not think they would be able to afford the costs of treatment if they or a family member needed it. This concern about affordability is highest among Americans with incomes under $50,000 (67% say they would not be able to afford treatment).
• Three-quarters (75%) of Americans are concerned that people who are addicted to alcohol or drugs may not be able to get treatment because they lack insurance coverage or cannot afford it.
• Nearly three-quarters (73%) support including alcohol and drug addition treatment as part of national health care reform to make it more accessible and affordable. This support cuts across all demographic groups.
• Two-thirds of Americans (68%) also support increasing federal and state funding for alcohol and drug prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
The finding that three quarters of Americans know someone personally who has been addicted to alcohol or drugs confirms what many recovering people find through personal experience: when you broach the subject, practically every person you talk to has a story about someone who is or was addicted.
Not researched in this study, which was funded by treatment industry interests, is how many Americans know someone for whom addiction treatment did not work. The industry not only has an affordability gap, it has a credibility gap.
1 comment:
Thanks for the resources. I'm hoping for the best in the future, especially with increasing drug use and drug dependency.
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