Drug Rehab and Pharmacology

As a counselor, I am continually pushed in the direction of researching the latest medications that are given to addicts undergoing treatment.  Frankly, it disgusts me.  In every trade magazine I get about the treatment industry, mixed in with the ads for the highest-priced drug rehabs are the ads and articles about the newest prescription drugs and multiple diagnoses.  If a direct question is asked of a person, then common sense prevails more than half of the time.  The question in this case is, does it make sense to you to give more drugs to an addict?  Most people say “no!” and then go on to tell me how wrong they thought it was that their son or sister or whomever was given multiple prescriptions and continues to relapse.  So why to people keep taking them then?