Alcohol use disorders cost the United States some 100,000 lives and $184.6 billion annually, and 14 million people meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse and alcoholism (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2000; Subcommittee on Health Services Research, 1997). The Nation spends approximately $6.1 billion per year on treatment for those with alcohol use disorders, 63 percent of which is funded by Federal, State, and local governments (Mark et al., 1999). Of the more than 1.5 million admissions annually to substance abuse treatment facilities in the United States, almost 50 percent list alcohol as the primary substance of abuse (Office of Applied Studies [OAS], 1999).
