I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1789 
To educate health professionals concerning substance use disorders and 
addiction. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2005 
Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island (for himself and Mr. RAMSTAD) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To educate health professionals concerning substance use 
disorders and addiction. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Professionals 
Substance Abuse Education Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) Illegal drugs and alcohol are responsible for 
thousands of deaths each year, and they fuel the
spread of a number of communicable diseases, in-
cluding AIDS and Hepatitis C, as well as some of 
the worst social problems in the United States, in-
cluding child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual 
assault. 
(2) There are an estimated 19,500,000 current 
drug users in America, nearly 4,000,000 of whom 
are addicts. An estimated 14,800,000 Americans 
abuse alcohol or are alcoholic. 
(3) There are nearly 27,000,000 children of al-
coholics in America, almost 11,000,000 of whom are 
under 18 years of age. Countless other children are 
affected by substance abusing parents or other care-
takers. Health professionals are uniquely positioned 
to help reduce or prevent alcohol and other drug-re-
lated impairment by identifying affected families and 
youth and by providing early intervention. 
(4) Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing dis-
ease. As with other chronic relapsing diseases (such 
as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma), there is no 
cure, although a number of treatments can effec-
tively control the disease. According to an article 
published in the Journal of the American Medical 
Association, treatment for addiction works as well as 
treatment for other chronic relapsing diseases.
(5) Drug treatment is cost effective, even when 
compared with residential treatment, the most ex-
pensive type of treatment. Residential treatment for 
cocaine addiction costs between $15,000 and 
$20,000 a year, a substantial savings compared to 
incarceration (costing nearly $40,000 a year), or un-
treated addiction (costing more than $43,000 a 
year). Also, in 1998, substance abuse and addiction 
accounted for approximately $10,000,000,000 in 
Federal, State, and local government spending sim-
ply to maintain the child welfare system. The eco-
nomic costs associated with fetal alcohol syndrome 
were estimated at $54,000,000,000 in 2003. 
(6) Many doctors and other health professionals 
are unprepared to recognize substance abuse in their 
patients or their families and intervene in an appro-
priate manner. Only 56 percent of residency pro-
grams have a required curriculum in preventing or 
treating substance abuse. 
(7) Fewer than 1 in 5 doctors (only 19 percent) 
feel confident about diagnosing alcoholism, and only 
17 percent feel qualified to identify illegal drug use. 
(8) Most doctors who are in a position to make 
a diagnosis of alcoholism or drug addiction do not