The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is issuing the completed version of its latest Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), which provides information on substance abuse treatment admissions from state-licensed treatment facilities across the country.
The 2006 TEDS Report is the latest in a series of yearly reports that not only provide overall figures for the Nation, but also break this information down into a wide variety of demographic criteria that can help provide greater perspective on the scope and nature of these problems. This information is designed to help the public health community get a better understanding of the treatment needs they are confronting so that they can work to most effectively address them.
Although TEDS does not include information on all treatment admissions, it is the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind and generates a vast array of specialized data on the characteristics of substance abuse treatment in the United States.
The major highlights from this latest TEDS report were announced this past February. Among the major findings over the past 10 years was that there had been a notable rise in the percentage of treatment admissions for methamphetamine, non-medical prescription painkiller and marijuana use. Other highlights included the fact that while alcohol abuse accounted for the largest share of the Nation’s 1.8 million treatment admissions in 2006 (40 percent), its share had dropped dramatically from 1996 (51 percent).
