Drug Abuse

Research on Treatment May Not Address Current Needs Gao ID: T-HRD-91-56 October 10, 1990

GAO discussed: (1) the current state of knowledge regarding drug abuse treatment; (2) what influenced the state of knowledge regarding drug abuse treatment; and (3) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) activities aimed at developing drug abuse treatment knowledge. GAO noted that: (1) while the nature of the drug abuse problem fundamentally changed during the past decade, drug abuse treatment knowledge advanced slowly; (2) significant gaps existed in understanding the relative effectiveness of existing treatments and in developing new treatments; (3) NIDA-funded research emphasized opiate abuse, although cocaine and crack abusers significantly outnumbered opiate abusers; (4) lack of large-scale evaluations of drug abuse treatment programs and existing methodological problems limited knowledge regarding drug abuse treatment effectiveness; (5) NIDA lacked a long-term strategic planning process, but planned to establish a strategic planning unit and an advisory board; (6) NIDA failed to involve treatment practitioners in decision-making regarding treatment research priorities; (7) low research budgets accounted in part for slow progress on treatment knowledge; and (8) NIDA funding for training drug abuse researchers lagged behind drug abuse research funding, resulting in slow progress in the development of drug abuse treatment knowledge.



The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.