Why is SBIRT important?
The impact of hazardous alcohol and substance abuse is far-reaching and can exacerbate medical, mental, and social problems resulting in significant cost to the public. Federal estimates place the national annual economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse to society at $375 billion (NIDA and NIAAA, 1998). Furthermore, the human suffering and emotional cost to individuals and families related to alcohol and drug abuse is devastating. National attention is focused on efforts to reduce these costs, both personal and economic. The traditional emphasis of substance abuse intervention has been placed on either universal prevention strategies aimed at those who have never initiated use (Mrazek and Haggerty, 1993), or specialist treatment for those who are dependent (Gerstein and Harwood, 1990). Little attention has been paid to the large group of individuals who use drugs but are not, or not yet, dependent and who could successfully reduce their drug use through “early intervention” (Klitzner et
