Treatment Statistics

…or, one more way they lie

The Drug Czars and other drug warriors often talk about the vast numbers of marijuana users in treatment, how the potency of pot is adding to the treatment numbers and how the high levels of treatment show that marijuana is not safe.

I’ve often debunked that notion at Drug WarRant, but it’s useful to take the government’s own numbers and show them to you..

You can run your own charts off the raw government data if you know how to do it. It’s available through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive in conjunction with SAMHSA.

I’ve done it below for you. Now, you can run the data a zillion different ways, based on age, geographic location, and a host of other factors. The Drug Czar would usually cherry-pick the numbers, picking whatever age ranges would support his arguments better, but even still, when you look at the data properly, the arguments about marijuana and treatment vanish into thin air.

In the chart below, we’re looking at a cross-reference of primary substance “problem” and principal referral source for all those admitted for treatment in 2007.

When you take a look at the various forms of referral for marijuana you immediately see:

56.9% of all marijuana referrals to treatment were from the criminal justice system

Only 14.8% of marijuana referrals to treatment were from individuals (that includes parents, friends, and other individuals), which is where you would expect a large figure if, in fact, marijuana addiction (particularly in youths) was a real problem.

(Note: Even when broken down by age, over 50% of all marijuana treatment referrals are from criminal justice for every age group from age 14 to 50.)

That clearly shows that treatment numbers are a more a function of referral than a reflection of actual problems with marijuana use.

Now, take a look at the other numbers (how marijuana compares to other drugs by referral) and you see:

No other drug (including legal drugs) has such a low percentage of self-referral. None.
No other drug has such a high percentage of people in treatment who were referred by criminal justice.
Heroin has almost the exact opposite ratio between the two referral sources. I think this is significant, and should be something analyzed further, to come up with real drug policy (that doesn’t depend on the false premises of prohibition). I believe that the heroin numbers support the notion that the Swiss model of legalization is likely to be successful.

Certainly, there are some people who have difficulty with marijuana dependence, and perhaps for a small handful, treatment is a useful option. But in 1970, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 14.4 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed. Yet only three-tenths of one percent of that number were self-referred to treatment or referred by family/friends.

Note: Though not on this particular chart, running the same numbers, but with the percentages based on the primary drugs for each referral source, gets you a disturbing fact. When it comes to schools, 54% of their referrals to treatment are for marijuana, 27.8% are for alcohol, and the next highest is 2% for cocaine. Given the fact that alcohol is more dangerous and causes more actual problems, one of two things can be inferred:

Alcohol regulation works so much better than marijuana prohibition, that more students are getting pot than alcohol
Schools are ignoring alcohol problems and focusing on busting marijuana use, perhaps in part because of drug testing, where marijuana shows up longer than alcohol.

2007 Treatment Statistics via SAMHDA: Primary Substance cross-referenced by Principal Referral Source

SDA 3.3: Tables

Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), 2007

Aug 15, 2009 (Sat 07:35 PM EDT)

Variables
Role	Name	Label	Range	MD	Dataset
Row	SUB1	PRIMARY SUBSTANCE PROBLEM CODE	1-20	-9	1
Column	PSOURCE	PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF REFERRAL	1-7	-9	1

Frequency Distribution
Cells contain: -Row percent -N of cases		PSOURCE
Cells contain: -Row percent -N of cases		1 Individual (includes self-referral)	2 Alcohol/ Drug Abuse Care Provider	3 Other Health Care Provider	4 School (Educational)	5 Employer/ EAP	6 Other Community Referral	7 Court/ Criminal Justice Referral/ DUI/DWI	ROW TOTAL
SUB1	1: None	42.2 16,309	1.1 410	15.5 5,998	4.3 1,665	.4 165	9.5 3,689	27.0 10,433	100.0 38,669
	2: Alcohol	29.9 216,790	10.2 73,617	7.9 56,861	.7 5,193	.8 5,915	11.0 79,665	39.5 286,203	100.0 724,244
	3: Cocaine/ Crack	34.0 78,887	14.8 34,278	6.4 14,886	.2 368	.6 1,486	13.3 30,814	30.7 71,300	100.0 232,019
	4: Marijuana/ Hashish	14.8 42,105	6.1 17,401	4.0 11,447	3.5 10,082	.9 2,536	13.7 38,948	56.9 161,618	100.0 284,137
	5: Heroin	58.1 141,872	14.8 36,102	5.6 13,628	.1 267	.2 454	7.1 17,362	14.2 34,675	100.0 244,360
	6: Non-Prescription Methadone	54.6 2,755	13.7 691	8.7 440	.1 5	.4 21	8.3 417	14.2 714	100.0 5,043
	7: Other Opiates and Synthetics	51.4 43,364	14.0 11,836	8.8 7,404	.2 193	.7 589	8.1 6,871	16.7 14,114	100.0 84,371
	8: PCP	20.8 635	8.1 249	3.5 107	.1 4	.4 12	13.3 407	53.8 1,645	100.0 3,059
	9: Hallucinogens	27.9 406	9.4 137	6.8 99	1.2 17	.3 4	13.1 190	41.3 600	100.0 1,453
	10: Meth	20.4 27,594	5.7 7,733	2.7 3,713	.3 352	.3 401	13.7 18,554	56.9 76,979	100.0 135,326
	11: Other Amphetamines	26.8 1,535	6.0 342	5.5 316	1.6 90	.4 25	10.9 621	48.8 2,789	100.0 5,718
	12: Other Stimulants	24.4 201	9.6 79	16.4 135	2.5 21	.1 1	19.0 157	28.0 231	100.0 825
	13: Benzodiazepines	41.9 3,939	15.2 1,435	11.8 1,109	.6 52	.6 56	9.6 908	20.3 1,913	100.0 9,412
	14: Other Tranquilizers	33.7 150	9.0 40	10.6 47	.9 4	1.3 6	12.8 57	31.7 141	100.0 445
	15: Barbituates	47.1 471	14.6 146	7.7 77	1.2 12	.4 4	6.4 64	22.7 227	100.0 1,001
	16: Other Sedatives or Hypnotics	35.6 1,121	15.0 472	7.9 250	1.8 58	.9 28	11.9 375	26.9 846	100.0 3,150
	17: Inhalants	29.1 279	8.7 83	9.4 90	7.8 75	.2 2	11.0 105	33.8 324	100.0 958
	18: Over-the-counter medications	32.1 249	9.3 72	16.1 125	5.2 40	.4 3	10.8 84	26.2 203	100.0 776
	20: Other	37.3 1,939	8.9 460	7.7 401	3.4 177	.7 38	13.3 691	28.6 1,487	100.0 5,193
	COL TOTAL	32.6 580,601	10.4 185,583	6.6 117,133	1.0 18,675	.7 11,746	11.2 199,979	37.4 666,442	100.0 1,780,159

Color coding:	<-2.0	<-1.0	<0.0	>0.0	>1.0	>2.0	Z
N in each cell:	Smaller than expected			Larger than expected

Text for ‘SUB1′

Identifies the client’s primary substance of abuse.

(1) NONE

(2) ALCOHOL

(3) COCAINE/CRACK

(4) MARIJUANA/HASHISH: Includes THC and other cannabis
sativa preparations

(5) HEROIN

(6) NON-PRESCRIPTION METHADONE: Methadone obtained and
used without a legal prescription

(7) OTHER OPIATES AND SYNTHETICS: Includes codeine,
Dilaudid, morphine, Demerol, opium, oxycodone, and any
other drug with morphine-like effects

(8) PCP: Phencyclidine

(9) HALLUCINOGENS: Includes other hallucinogens, LSD, DMT,
STP, mescaline, psilocybin, peyote, etc.

(10) METHAMPHETAMINE

(11) OTHER AMPHETAMINES: Includes Amphetamines, Benzedrine,
Dexedrine, Preludin, Ritalin, and any other amines and
related drugs

(12) OTHER STIMULANTS: Includes non-amphetamine stimulants

(13) BENZODIAZEPINES: Includes diazepam, flurazepam,
chlordiazepoxide, clorazepate, lorazepam, alprazolam,
oxazepam, temazepam, prazepam, triazolam, clonazepam,
halazepam, and other unspecified benzodiazepines

(14) OTHER TRANQUILIZERS: Includes non-benzodiazepine
tranquilizers

(15) BARBITURATES: Includes phenobarbital, Seconal, Nembutal,
etc.

(16) OTHER SEDATIVES OR HYPNOTICS: Includes non-barbiturate
sedatives/hypnotics, chloral hydrate, Placidyl, Doriden,
etc.

(17) INHALANTS: Includes ether, glue, chloroform, nitrous
oxide, gasoline, paint thinner, etc.

(18) OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATIONS: Includes aspirin, cough
syrup, Sominex, and any other legally obtained
non-prescription medication

(20) OTHER: All substances not otherwise specified

Text for ‘PSOURCE’

Describes the person or agency referring the client to the
alcohol or drug abuse treatment program:

– INDIVIDUAL: Includes the client, a family member, friend,
or any other individual not included in the other
categories. (Includes self-referral due to DWU/DUI).

– ALCOHOL/DRUG ABUSE CARE PROVIDER: Any program, clinic,
or other health care provider whose activities are
related to alcohol or other drug abuse prevention, or
treatment.

– OTHER HEALTH CARE PROVIDER: A physician, psychiatrist,
or other licensed health care professional; or general
hospital, psychiatric hospital, mental health program,
or nursing home.

– SCHOOL (EDUCATIONAL): A school principal, counselor, or
teacher; or a student assistance program (SAP), the school
system, or educational agency.

– EMPLOYER/EAP: A supervisor or employee counselor.

– OTHER COMMUNITY REFERRAL: Community and religious
organizations or any Federal, State, or local agency that
provides aid in the areas of poverty relief, unemployment,
shelter, or social welfare. Self-help groups such as
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Al-Anon, and Narcotics Anonymous
(NA) are also included in this category. Defense
attorneys are also included in this category.

– COURT/CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFERRAL / DUI/DWI: Any police
official, judge, prosecutor, probation officer, or other
person affiliated with a Federal, State, or county
judicial system. Includes referral by a court for
DWI/DUI, clients referred in lieu of or for deferred
prosecution, or during pretrial release, or before or
after official adjudication. Includes clients on
pre-parole, pre-release, work or home furlough, or TASC.
Client referrals in this category are further defined
in the Supplemental Data Set item Detailed criminal
justice referral (DETCRIM).

Allocation of cases
Valid cases	1,780,159
Cases with invalid codes on row or column variable	37,418
Total cases	1,817,577

Datasets
1		/SDA/SAMHDA/24280-0001
2		/SDA/SAMHDA/24280-0001

CSM, UC Berkeley

Treatment Statistics

…or, one more way they lie

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