There is also a difference in the status of the men and women that use drugs.

Women substance abusers are more likely to be unemployed, have other health problems, attempted suicide, suffered sexual or physical abuse, and not have a high school diploma. Studies done biologically, show that there is also a difference in how men and women respond to certain drugs. One study found that women using cocaine were less likely to have brain damage than men, even though many of the women used higher amounts of cocaine.

All of these differences indicate that there should also be a difference in substance abuse treatment. Treatment centers are starting to provide substance abuse programs that are either for only men or only women. This allows treatment providers to address and take care of problems that are gender specific. One gender specific problem is the number of relapses. It has been found that men relapse more often than women. After further study it was found that this is most likely because the women participate more in the treatment programs, especially group therapy. Experts suggest that having separate treatment facilities would allow treatment providers the opportunity to talk with men about continuing treatment and the need to stay involved in the program. Another difference in relapse is that women who relapsed reported negative emotions and other emotional stress, while men reported positive experiences before relapsing. Understanding this fact would help greatly in teaching patients how to deal with emotions to prevent relapse.

Continued research is being done that is giving better insight into how patients can be treated more accurately. It is important that treatment providers and patients understand that there is a difference in substance abuse in the different genders and this means that treatment may also need to be different.