Journal of Drug Issues

Introduction to the Special Issue

Many of the early researchers who had an impact on the field beginning in the late 1960s and early 1 970s have passed away, and - as we enter a new century - it seemed important to bring researchers from the latter part of the 20th century together to discuss the progress and landmarks in their areas of research and reflect on important new areas for investigation. [...] the concept behind the meeting - Reflections on 40 Years of Drug Abuse Research - was formed.

Reflections On the Meaning of Drug Epidemics

Fluctuations in the use of many drugs at one time or another have been characterized as drug epidemics. The depiction of drug use as an epidemic, as in the recent cases of methamphetamine and crack use, is a proven mechanism for communicating that a problem exists, but such depictions are not without risk. When the public characterization of drug use as an epidemic represents more than its epidemiological meaning of ìunusually elevated occurrence, î panic is often substituted for reasoned act...

Reflections On Drug Policy

The history of United States drug policy is complex, ranging from laissez-faire to strict prohibition. In recent years, there has been little federal interest in drug policy reform and a continuing focus on a prohibitionist deterrence approach. During this period, state initiatives have been in the forefront of drug policy experimentation via ballot initiatives, legislative actions, or judicial and administrative policy decisions. The resulting state-level drug policy landscape includes conti...

Reflections On 40 Years of Drug Abuse Prevention Research

Over the past twenty-five years, tremendous progress has been made in the area of drug abuse prevention research. The accumulated findings from longitudinal studies of adolescents regarding the factors associated with vulnerability to the substance use and abuse and trends from national surveys of substance use showing their association to societal perceptions of the harmfulness resulting from the use of these substances have informed the development of effective innovative prevention strateg...

Reflections On 40 Years of Drug Abuse Research: Changes in the Epidemiology of Drug Abuse

The discipline of epidemiology utilizes the constructs of agent, host, vector, and environment to study the incidence and prevalence (i.e., the nature, extent, distribution, correlates) and the contexts, and consequences of drug abuse in the United States. This paper provides a selected review of the results of 40 years of epidemiological study of drug abuse using surveillance systems, general population surveys, ethnography and qualitative research approaches. It then addresses the challenge...

Reflections of an Academic Clinical Researcher On the Past 40 Years of Addiction Development

This paper reflects on three areas of addiction: prescription drug abuse, perinatal addiction, and the clinical fields of addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry. The concerns about the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs date back over a century with numerous laws passed to address these problems. Despite these laws, there has been increasing concern over the past decade about the increases in the nonmedical use and abuse of prescription drugs. This begs the question of whether the pa...

Institutionalization of Drug Abuse Research in Academia: One Professor's View

Substance abuse is marginalized both as an activity and as an area of study. Substance abuse research is a relatively new field, and in the early days faculty members engaging in such research found it difficult to obtain tenure track positions at universities. Funding for substance abuse study was limited, depending mainly on the National Institute on Drug Abuse for grants. This article describes one professorís role in the institutionalization of substance abuse research in academia and the...

Treatment Research: Accomplishments and Challenges

This article reviews the history of substance abuse treatment and its evaluation. The authors comment on key aspects of this history and its implications for the future. Research has been a key factor in the support of substance abuse treatment and the expansion and improvement of treatment options. Despite the progress in the field, organizational structure and functioning, ambivalence on the moral/medical basis of addiction, and narrow perspectives on evidence-based practice have presented ...

Criminality and Addiction: Selected Issues for Future Policies, Practice, &Amp; Research

The high cost of incarceration and a general confidence in the effectiveness of drug abuse treatment have led many states to adopt community-based drug abuse treatment as part of, or as an alternative to, incarceration. Community re-entry and aftercare have therefore received increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers. This article examines possibilities for encouraging change in both adult and juvenile justice treatment. Four issues are highlighted: (1) relapse and aftercar...

Reflections On the Early History of National Institute On Drug Abuse (Nida): Implications for Today

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) was formed in September, 1973 from a Division of the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH), from the three-decade old Addiction Research Center (ARC) in Lexington Kentucky, and from the two year old Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP), the original White House drug office. The legislation authorizing NIDA was passed by both Houses of Congress and signed by the president with bipartisan unanimity in response to the drug abus...

The Neurobiology of Addiction: Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going

A number of dramatic breakthroughs in the neurobiology of addiction have occurred in the past 40 years. Two domains will be highlighted: the neurocircuitry of addiction and the molecular biology of addiction targets. The neurobiological substrates for the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse have been largely identified both at the initial site of action and in the circuitry involved. In human imaging studies, decreases in dopaminergic function have been identified as a key element of addict...

Black Beauties, Gorilla Pills, Footballs, and Hillbilly Heroin: Some Reflections On Prescription Drug Abuse and Diversion Research Over the Past 40 Years

Although the problem of prescription drug abuse has endured for well over two centuries, research into the abuse and diversion of these drugs has been relatively recent. The first general population survey to document the abuse of prescription medications occurred in 1970, and subsequent studies demonstrated that the abuse and diversion of amphetamines, opioids, and sedatives has continued to be widespread. During the 1980s and much of the 1990s, prescription drug abuse took a back seat to ot...

Reflections On 25 Years of Hiv and Aids Research Among Drug Abusers

Booth: Since early in the HIV epidemic, street outreach workers, often indigenous to the target population, have served both to recruit drug injectors for interventions and to conduct interventions. The typically unstructured nature of outreach interventions present challenges in determining the nature of services actually delivered. It is recommended that both qualitative and quantitative methods be utilized to monitor intervention service delivery. Des Jarlais: The threat of AIDS has led to...

Reflections On the Past 40 Years of Behavioral Pharmacology Research On Problems of Drug Abuse

Behavioral pharmacology research has made important contributions to the conceptualization of addictions and to the treatment and prevention of substance abuse. It has its intellectual roots in the experimental analysis of behavior and close ties with experimental and clinical pharmacology. Because substance abusers self-administer drugs repeatedly, this presents the opportunity for learning to occur. The application of learning theory to the laboratory study of drug effects in both animals a...

Adapting Hiv Interventions for Women Substance Abusers in International Settings: Lessons for the Future

Many substance abusers are at risk for HIV due to their drug using and sexual behaviors. HIV interventions developed early on for substance abusers did not account for gender differences. Womenís risk for HIV around the world makes them more vulnerable than men, yet their circumstances are different and adaptations to interventions are needed. The Womenís CoOp, considered a best-evidence intervention, has been adapted with several groups of noninjecting women in South Africa and with injectin...

Reflections On 40 Years of Ethnographic Drug Abuse Research: Implications for the Future

This paper focuses on past, present, and potential future contributions of ethnographic research to describing and understanding ìstreet culturesî of drug use and the implications these have for informing various interventions. The first section provides an overview of ethnography and drug abuse research. This is followed by a historical perspective on the ethnography of street cultures. Next, the significance of ethnographic drug abuse research is highlighted, with a focus on its methodology...

Drug Abuse Research: Today and Tomorrow

Many of the papers in this theme issue originated as presentations at a conference entitled ìReflections on 40 Years of Drug Abuse Research.î At the conference, leaders in the drug abuse field presented their work, as well as their visions and concerns for the future of drug abuse research, and many of those presentations are included as papers in this issue of the Journal of Drug Issues. At the end of the conference, and after hearing presentations from senior researchers in the field, sever...

Drug Abuse Research: A Shifting Paradigm

In 1962, Thomas Kuhn wrote ìThe Structure of Scientific Revolutionsî and popularized the concept of ìparadigm shift.î Kuhn commented that scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but involves ìa series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions.î It is during these revolutions that ìone conceptual world is replaced by another.î The presentations of the researchers at this conference represent the shifting paradigm of drug abuse research. The presentations at ì4...

The Therapeutic Community for Addictions: An Evolving Knowledge Base

The therapeutic community (TC) has become an established treatment approach serving thousands of substance abusers in community, institutional, and other settings. This article summarizes the research that contributed to the acceptance and growth of TCs and laid the groundwork for the establishment of TCs for substance abusers in correctional settings. The TC knowledge base has contributed to the revival of a rehabilitation philosophy in correctional policy, which is described in the second s...

Understanding Drug Use Over the Life Course: Past, Present, and Future

Over the past 20 years, much exciting addiction research has been conducted. Extensive knowledge has been gathered about comorbid issues, particularly mental health disorders, HIV, and criminal justice involvement. Health services addiction research has become increasingly sophisticated, shifting its focus from patients to consider also services, organizations, and financing structures. Furthermore, through several long-term follow-up studies, empirical evidence convincingly demonstrates that...

Health Services Research for Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Prevention

Health services research is a multidisciplinary field that examines ways to organize, manage, finance, and deliver high-quality care. This specialty within substance abuse research developed from policy analyses and needs assessments that shaped federal policy and promoted system development in the 1970s. After the authorization of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), patient information systems supported studies of tr...