ABSTRACT
Addiction is a major concern around the world. It is estimated that 205 million people worldwide use illicit (non-legal) drugs, while 25 million of these are drug dependent (World Health Organisation, 2010). The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that thirty-nine deaths per 100,000 are attributable to drug and alcohol use and misuse. In addition it estimates that drug use accounts for the loss of two disability-adjusted life years and eleven for alcohol (ibid.). In the UK it is estimated that there are approximately 262,000 problem heroin users, although numbers are slowly falling (HM Government, 2010). Also it is estimated that there are 1.6 million people in the UK with mild, moderate or severe alcohol dependence. Alcohol costs the UK 18–25 billion pounds every year, with the NHS alone bearing 2.7 billion of these costs. It is estimated there are 451,000 problem gamblers in the UK, with 73 per cent of the population taking part in gambling activities (Wardle et. al., 2011). As these figures suggest, addiction is a large problem and costly to society, individuals, and families.
