Barbara Boxer: “today I am introducing the Treatment on Demand Assistance Act to help ensure that substance abuse treatment is available…”

“today I am introducing the Treatment on Demand Assistance Act to help ensure that substance abuse treatment is available to all substance abusers who seek it. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, each year drug and alcohol related abuse kills more than 120,000 Americans. In 1999, an estimated 14.8 million Americans were illicit drug users, with nearly 5 million of them addicted to drugs. Drugs and alcohol abuse costs taxpayers nearly $276 billion annually in preventable health care costs, extra law enforcement, auto crashes, crime and lost productivity. Additionally, the detrimental effect of substance abuse manifests itself in numerous ways. For instance, substance abuse is often the root behind family violence and other criminal activity. Even more devastating is that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, drug injections are one of the most common modes of transmission of the AIDS virus. In an effort to combat this problem, before stepping down as America's Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey outlined in his final report that the prescription for solving America's drug problem was: "prevention coupled with treatment accompanied by research." Despite the recognition that substance abuse treatment should be on the Nation's agenda, there is still a large gap between those in need of drug treatment and the availability of treatment programs.”