Summary: Federal support from the two principal agencies for drug abuse research--the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice--increased more than 200 percent between 1980 and 1990 (more than 400 percent if funding related to AIDS is included). In contrast, outlays for national defense research and development rose by 83 percent while nondefense research and development fell by 5 percent during that same period. Of the three categories of drug abuse research funding GAO studied--causality, prevention, and treatment--HHS' National Institute on Drug Abuse spent the most on treatment, followed by prevention and causality. Funding for studies on the causes of drug abuse has remained tiny, never exceeding .01 percent of the nation's drug control budget. The Department of Justice has spent as much on prevention studies as on causality and treatment studies combined. Expert researchers agree on the importance of more research on the psychological and social/environmental factors leading to drug abuse.
