ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Substance use disorders remain a persistent social and medical problem. According to a recent report,1 addiction is the number one health problem in the United States. Th e report notes that when one considers the direct costs of drug-induced health problems, deaths due to accidents, human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV), or drugrelated acts of violent crime, there are ‘more deaths, illnesses and disabilities from substance use than from any other preventable health condition’.1
