The ultimate goal of all drug abuse treatment centers is to enable the patient to achieve lasting abstinence, but the immediate goals are to reduce drug use, improve the patient’s ability to function, and minimize the medical and social complications of drug abuse.

There are several types of drug abuse treatment programs. Short-term methods last less than 6 months and include residential therapy, medication therapy, and drug-free outpatient therapy. Longer term treatment may include, for example, methadone maintenance outpatient treatment for opiate addicts and residential therapeutic community treatment.

Source: The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) website (http://www.nida.nih.gov/)