14 DAY TRIAL // Women's addiction to alcohol, pills and other narcotics is rapidly approaching the "standards" of men, who traditionally have had higher rates of substance abuse. According to a 10-year research effort from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, more than 20 million girls and women in the United States abuse drugs and alcohol and 30 million more are addicted to cigarettes.
Moreover, the study shows that women are more affected by drugs than men. According to Susan Foster, CASA's director of policy research and analysis, who directed the research, each single drink hits a woman like a double. A woman's body contains less water and more fatty tissue compared to a male body. Fatty tissue increases alcohol absorption. Women also have a lower activity level of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which metabolizes alcohol.
According to the study, which is published in a book called Women Under the Influence, similar biological factors also increase the risk of other drugs. The study also shows that due to a combination of physiological and psychological factors women become addicted more easily than men.
Researchers warn that the situation seems to get worse. For certain drugs, such as prescription painkillers, the abuse rate is already higher in girls than boys.
"Whereas the substance abuse field has a fairly good understanding of the biological basis of gender differences in susceptibility to alcohol addiction, the research on such differences with regard to narcotic addiction is still in the early stages," Foster told LiveScience. "Women become addicted [to narcotics] faster than men. Our understanding of why this may be the case is more limited."
CASA president Joseph Califano said that insofar drug-treatment programs have focused mainly on males and need to better embrace women and their needs. According to him, more than 90 percent of American women in need of treatment don't get it.