Forward of Treatment Doesn't Work

This document is in process. By December 2001 it is expected to be revised five separate times with the first revision scheduled for March 2000. Each revision will have its own forward that will describe the information that is added, revised and updated.

In this first release we present research that definitively demonstrates conventional drug and alcohol treatment of adolescents is of no value. Moreover, such treatment of adolescents is actually detrimental to the family unit causing deep-seated resentments on the part of the adolescents who are “forced” into treatment and even deeper seated resentments by family members when the adolescent begins using again.

We will also discuss the CALDATA Study, the Chapman-Walsh Study, the 1998 New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services Study, and the NIAAA Match Study. These studies all have severe flaws in their efforts to prove that “treatment works.” For example, Andrew Mecca, Director of the CALDATA Study, asserts that self-reporting by drug addicts is reliable. He bases his assertion on a 1989 report by R.L. Hubbard, et al. that states, “Studies of the reliability and validity of responses to surveys by drug abusers show that addicts provide generally truthful and accurate information.” Nothing could be further from the truth. As the old joke observes: “you can always tell when an alcoholic or drug addict is lying—their lips are moving.”

However, we consider the most important subject of this release is the news that few, if any , people with drug and/or alcohol problems benefit from drug and alcohol treatment programs . Further, this document will show why subjecting a person with a drug or alcohol problem to conventional treatment is a complete waste of time and money and may actually be a cause of relapse.

You will note that within the framework of this document verbatim inserts of other documents and studies have been used. The reason for the verbatim inserts is to ensure that the work of the researchers and authors used in this report are not misquoted or misrepresented by using isolated quotes that may, out of context, say something different than what was intended. Additionally these inserts contribute to the readability and credibility of the report, and we are grateful to those organizations and individuals that allowed us to use their information.

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Copyright 1998 Baldwin Research Institute, Inc.