It used to be that drug addicts were considered the lower class of society. When one tried to imagine the life of a drug addict, one conjured up a mental image of skinny, homeless people who had rotted teeth and no ambition in life. Today, however, society has become aware that the issue of substance abuse knows no boundaries. It cuts across all socioeconomic barriers and pays little attention to religious preference, race or ethnic background. Substance abusers only have one thing in common, and it is their addiction(Matthews, 2000).
             While this has proved to be enlightening in so far as it has removed some of the stigma surrounding substance abuse it has also illuminated the vast differences in lifestyles and financial abilities of those who are affected. This new knowledge provides an understanding of the difficulty in designing and providing substance abuse treatment that can be widely recognized among the many substance abuse populations. If one person in a group is wealthy and can afford an array of top-notch detox medications, but another person in the group is poor and cannot afford to pay rent, it become difficult to implement a program that each of them can relate to, study, and use in their quest to remain clean and sober. Add to this the fact that many substance abusers have given up hope of ever being able to kick the habit and it isn't difficult to understand why substance abuse is so difficult to address. There is one constant, however, that costs little money to implement, provides hope for those who follow it and can give substance abuse counselors a common ground from which to offer help to those who seek it. Spirituality, whether it is a belief in God, Goddesses or another form of a higher power can provide a far-reaching commonality that the addicts can share during their recovery and treatment. Spirituality costs nothing to own, nothing to practice and gives the counselors a tool with which to connect the addic...