David Larson, M.D., president of the National Institute for Health-care Research,and researchers Mary Milano and Constance Barry have analyzed scientific data on the effects of religion in a number of areas,including substance abuse,heart disease,surgery marital relations, and suicide. Encouraging religious commitment,they say,could offer a multifaceted way of reducing expanditures for treatment of addictions and mental disorders, leading to shortened hospitalizations through faster recovery rates and decreased need for expensive prescription drugs.