Each year, the United States Department of Human Services measures trends and treatment options for drug abuse across the country. The latest report, from 2007, shows that opiates like heroin led drug admissions across the country, followed by marijuana, cocaine, and stimulants like methamphetamine. Together they account for nearly 60% of all substance abuse admissions to hospitals and drug treatment facilities. Since there are over 20 million illicit drug users in the United States, drug rehabilitation is not only big business, but an essential business. Almost 40% of all people treated in 2007 landed in “rehab” via the criminal justice system.

State by state, the mixture of private vs. public drug rehabilitation facilities leans heavily toward private nonprofit and private for-profit treatment centers. Many of these contract their services to state and local agencies, hospitals, and other managed care organizations. Between 40% and 90% receive public funding, which makes them more available to people seeking treatment for substance abuse. In 2007 there were over 13,000 facilities dedicated to alcohol and drug rehabilitation in the United States, offering a wide and confusing variety of programs.

As shown below, many treatment options are available to people hoping for treatment of drug addiction, ranging from outpatient (ambulatory) services to detoxification to counseling. Of the over 1.8 million people treated for drug and alcohol abuse in the United States in 2007, 62% were treated on an outpatient basis, 18% received residential care of one type or another, and 20% required inpatient detoxification.

Hospitalization and detoxification as listed above are specific to severe addictions with medical complications that precluded outpatient treatment. Inpatient care of that type is just a part of the drug rehabilitation process. Just as detoxification alone is not enough to break a drug habit, neither is mental health counseling or group therapy. Drug addiction comprises several components that must be addressed during rehabilitation: physical, emotional, social, and spiritual. A well-rounded drug rehabilitation program addresses the needs of body and mind as well as the person’s ability to reintegrate into social networks and overcome the spiritual damage and humiliation arising from subordinating one’s life to drugs.

Drug rehabilitation is no longer the exclusive province of inner-city youth or crazed street junkies. One of the most pervasive and troubling trends recorded year over year is the increasing abuse of prescription drugs. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration noted a 50% increase in abuse of tranquilizers in a single year between 1999 and 2000, when over 17% of adults over 60 abused prescription drugs either intentionally or accidentally. Bored teenagers increasingly are abusing Xanax and other drugs to get high, with the consequence that of the 1.8 million people in drug rehabilitation in 2007, over 300,000 were under the age of 17.

Drug rehabilitation should be sought at the first warning signs of abuse. Most programs offer drug screening and evaluation to determine the proper course of action for a particular individual and addiction, and even the smallest states have many choices for care.