Significant advances within the past 2 decades have dramatically improved researchers' understanding of opioid abuse and addiction. Public opinion, however, has been slower to change. One consequence of this lag was the marginalization of opioid dependence treatment, leaving many communities unprepared to handle the sudden rise in treatment demand over the last 10 years.

This section explores the social and clinical context of opioid dependence treatment, beginning with a look at current trends in opioid use in the United States. This snapshot of treatment need is followed by discussion of how opioid dependence treatment has evolved of late, with particular attention to the way in which even the language surrounding treatment has begun to reflect the acceptance of opioid dependence as a chronic disease.