Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed: (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 found that: (1) while the nature of the drug abuse problem fundamentally changed during the past decade, knowledge on drug abuse treatment advanced slowly; (2) a lack of large-scale evaluations of treatment programs and existing methodological shortcomings limited knowledge regarding drug abuse treatment effectiveness; (3) NIDA lacked a strategic research planning process, but planned to involve treatment practitioners in establishing priorities; (4) NIDA funding for the training of drug abuse researchers has not kept up with increases in funding for drug abuse research, resulting in an inadequate progression of drug abuse treatment research; (5) despite the recent cocaine and crack epidemic, NIDA treatment research gave priority to developing therapies for heroin and opiates addiction; and (6) NIDA recently began to place additional emphasis on developing cocaine abuse therapies, but did not expect results for several years.
