DESPITE THE FACT that drugs can have a terrible stronghold on people, those addicted to drugs can be helped. Not all drug abusers are able to benefit from treatment, however. Most experts estimate the number of Americans with a serious drug problem at six million. About two million of those are hard-core addicts who do not want to stop using drugs or are so addicted that they cannot stop. Roughly three-quarters of these addicts are hooked on cocaine and one-quarter on heroin; many are also alcoholics or use other types of drugs as well.

That leaves about four million drug abusers who could potentially be rehabilitated. Some of these manage to get off drugs with just the support of family and friends, but most require help from a drug treatment program. Concrete statistics on recovery rates in treatment programs are difficult to...