In a recent Baltimore Sun article, a Maryland rehab professional said that when stars backslide “it definitely doesn't look good for rehab centers because you get this biased view that people don't do well after rehab.”

However, a modest search of news archives suggests that perhaps the idea that rehab programs may be less than effective isn't all that biased. It's tough to find stories of first-time successful alcohol and drug rehab recoveries. Perhaps the media is the wrong place to look - most stories that qualify as newsworthy are concerned with loss and failure. But a search of professional literature seems to add to the evidence - a terrific amount of money is being spent on alcohol and drug rehab programs and methods that do not deliver the goods – freedom from addiction – to the not-famous millions seeking alcohol and drug rehab around the world, as well as the celebrities.

Relapse is as common as addiction itself. Scientists, addiction specialists and even former addicts are at pains to explain how addiction is a “lifelong affliction”, that full recovery is difficult and, for some addicts, impossible.

However, stories abound from individuals who attest to being completely recovered from serious alcohol and drug addiction – years or even decades after a single successful alcohol or drug rehab program, they are still clean and sober. The scientists and specialists cannot easily explain such results, and often disagree on how it happens. Nevertheless, it does happen. And these results prove that successful drug rehab is definitely possible and relapse does not have to be part of the picture.

According to a report by researchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and several health-consulting firms, published in Health Affairs, spending for substance-abuse treatment in 2003 was $20.7 billion, up from $9.3 billion in 1986. A current-year figure is unavailable, but is likely about the same or more. And it is astounding to discover we're spending that much money on something that, by and large, may not work very well.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says illicit drugs and alcohol contribute to the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans every year, and alcohol, nicotine and illegal drugs cost Americans upwards of half a trillion dollars a year, considering their combined medical, economic, criminal, and social impact.

Add those shocking statistics to what is being spent on spotty rehab, and we're clearly not making effective use of our resources.

Logic suggests that serious studies should be funded to determine what it is that some alcohol and drug rehab centers are doing right. Americans can then spend their money on a successful drug rehab program instead of something that doesn't work, billions of wasted dollars can be otherwise utilized, and people with alcohol and drug addiction problems can actually get their lives back.