Reflections on the Early History of National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): Implications for Today

• Published date: 01 January 2009
• Date: 01 January 2009
• DOI: 10.1177/002204260903900101
• Author: Robert L. DuPont
• Subject Matter: Article

© 2009 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES

JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/09/01 5-14

__________

Robert L. DuPont, MD, the f‌i rst Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is President of the

Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc., a nonprof‌i t organization that promotes ideas to reduce illegal

drug use. He is a practicing psychiatrist and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown Medical

School. Over his career, he has advocated change in federal drug policy to emphasize treatment and

research.

REFLECTIONS ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF NATIONAL

INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE (NIDA): IMPLICATIONS

FOR TODAY

ROBERT L. DUPONT

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 Off‌i ce for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP), the original White

House drug off‌i ce. The legislation authorizing NIDA was passed by both Houses

of Congress and signed by the president with bipartisan unanimity in response

to the drug abuse epidemic, which had begun in the late 1960s. NIDA was the

embodiment of the new Federal drug abuse strategy that, for the f‌i rst time, balanced

the traditional focus on law enforcement (supply reduction) with a new focus on

treatment, prevention, and research (what became known as demand reduction).

The current article offers a review of the early history of NIDA and its implications

for future research.

INTRODUCTION

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) sprang from the forced and unlikely

bureaucratic marriage of the White House Special Action Off‌i ce for Drug Abuse

Prevention (SAODAP) and the Division of Narcotic Abuse and Drug Addiction

(DNADA) within the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in September,

1973.

The White House Special Action Off‌i ce for Drug Abuse Prevention was created

by executive order on June 17, 1971. Subsequent enabling legislation, signed into

law by the president on March 21, 1972, contained a sunset provision terminating

the off‌i ce on June 30, 1975. That same law authorized the creation of NIDA no