Publications and Articles | Open Society Institute

Issue Brief #4: Investing in Addiction Treatment—Social Costs the U.S. Cannot Afford to Ignore
December 2009
Treatment is known to increase productivity, decrease crime, improve family and community situations, reduce demand for public services (from child welfare and family support to public safety), lower health care costs, and save lives.

Issue Brief #2: Defining the Addiction Treatment Gap
December 2009
Right now more than 23 million Americans suffer from alcohol and drug addiction and need treatment; only one in 10 of them (2.4 million) gets the treatment they need.

Issue Brief #1: Defining Alcohol and Drug Addiction
December 2009
Addiction meets all three medically defined criteria used to classify an entity as a disease: addiction has recognized causal agents, identifiable signs and symptoms, and addiction causes changes in the body.