For 30 years, NIDA Notes provided in-depth coverage of research findings on drug misuse and addiction. NIDA Notes was discontinued in 2021.
This is Archived content. This content is available for historical purposes only. It may not reflect the current state of science or language from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). For current information, please visit nida.nih.gov.
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NIDA-funded Scientist Receives Presidential Early Career Award Dr. Mark Von Zastrow Dr. Mark Von Zastrow of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) was recently awarded a Presidential Early Career...
Cocaine's Pleasurable Effects May Involve Multiple Chemical Sites
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Recent studies with genetically altered mice have suggested that cocaine's euphoric effects may involve not just one, but several, chemical sites in the brain. These studies indicate that medications for...
NIDA's Report Card
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Each year at the NIDA Constituent Conference, representatives of national groups in the field of drug abuse provide advice and feedback to the Institute. During the meeting, participants recommend to...
Clinical Trials Network Will Speed Testing and Delivery of New Drug Abuse Therapies
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Over the past quarter century, NIDA research programs have produced dramatic advances in understanding drug abuse and addiction and led to the development of an array of new treatments and...
NIDA Teams With National Cancer Institute to Establish Tobacco Research Centers
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NIDA is joining with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to create tobacco research centers across the Nation. The centers will bring together scientists in areas as diverse as molecular biology...
Studies Link Stress and Drug Addiction
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Drug-addicted patients who are trying to remain off drugs can often resist the cravings brought on by seeing reminders of their former drug life, NIDA-funded researcher Dr. Mary Jeanne Kreek...
Antistress Medications May Help Drug Abuse Patients Avoid Relapse
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A class of medications currently being developed by several pharmaceutical companies may help drug abuse patients avoid relapse after experiencing stress. Called CRF antagonists, the compounds block the action of...
MERIT Award Research Helps Reveal Long-term and Developmental Impact of Drug Abuse
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Identifying the long-term impact of drugs is crucial to understanding drug abuse and addiction. Chronic use of drugs by adults may have effects that last long after drug use has...
The Next Generation of Drug Abuse Research
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NIDA was established in 1974 to bring the power of science to bear on the Nation's drug abuse problems. The Institute's first 25 years have been marked by groundbreaking scientific...
NIDA Marks 25 Years of Progress In Drug Abuse Research
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Editor's Note: The scientists pictured on these pages represent just a sampling of the hundreds of scientists who have advanced drug abuse research during NIDA's 25 years. Dr. Philip Portoghese...
Tracking Trends in Teen Drug Abuse Over the Years
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In 1975, shortly after NIDA was established, NIDA's first Monitoring the Future study (MTF) began to collect data on drug use among the Nation's high school seniors. In 1991, 8th-...
NIDA Constituents Discuss Translating Drug Abuse Research Into Prevention and Treatment
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Linda Kaplan of the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors. The need to translate research findings into effective drug abuse prevention and treatment programs was the common thread...
Drug Use Among America's Teenagers Shows Slight Downward Trend
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The prevalence of illicit drug use among America's teenagers dropped slightly in 1998. The decrease follows a leveling off in 1997, and suggests that the increasing use of drugs by...
Institute Launches Science Education Campaign for Middle Schoolers
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NIDA has launched a new science education campaign to provide middle school students with information about how drugs work in the brain. " NIDA Goes to School," a compilation of...
New NIDA Initiative Focuses on Vulnerability to Drug Addiction
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Just as diseases such as asthma and diabetes tend to run in families, so does a predisposition to drug addiction, scientists are finding. This suggests that certain genes may confer...
Study Shows How Genes Can Help Protect From Addiction
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Percentages of Smokers and Nonsmokers With Gene Variant That Slows Nicotine Metabolism. Nonsmokers in a study at the University of Toronto were more likely than smokers to carry a copy...
Treating Mood Disorders in Drug Abuse Patients Yields Improvement in Both Conditions
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For many drug abuse patients, mood disorders are a constant companion. Among cocaine abusers, for example, depressive disorders are the most commonly diagnosed coexisting, or comorbid, conditions. The relationship between...
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Compounds May Treat Cocaine-induced Heart Disease Dr. Donald Ohuoha (center), formerly with NIDA's IRP, draws a compound for preventing cocaine's damaging effects on the heart into a hypodermic needle. He...
Des Moines Town Meeting Addresses Methamphetamine Abuse Epidemic in Iowa
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(Left to right) Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner, and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley at the Des Moines Town Meeting. The latest in NIDA's Town Meeting...
Compound Enhances Memory in Mice With Alzheimer-like Symptoms
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A compound developed as an offshoot of drug abuse research is proving effective as a memory enhancer in mice with learning impairments similar to those associated with Alzheimer's disease. The...
Coping Skills Help Patients Recognize and Resist the Urge to Use Cocaine
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For some cocaine abusers, urges to use cocaine come out of the blue. But more often the urge is associated with an identifiable situation that triggers drug use. A behavioral...
Institute Will Expand Research into the Interaction of Genetics and Environment in Vulnerability to Drug Abuse and Addiction
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Only some people experiment with drugs, and among those who experiment, only some become addicted. Among those who become addicted, some eventually are able to stop taking drugs while others...
Methamphetamine Abuse Alert
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In response to indicators that show methamphetamine abuse increasing across the Nation, NIDA sent a bulletin containing current, science-based information on methamphetamine to more than 200,000 drug abuse treatment providers...
Special Journal Supplement Summarizes Research on HIV Prevention in Drug-Using Populations
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To underscore the importance of research on prevention of HIV/AIDS in drug-using populations, the publishers of Public Health Reports issued a special supplement in June 1998 focusing on the current...
Global Network Will Promote Information Exchange on HIV Prevention in Drug-Using Populations
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An international research network to facilitate rapid international exchange of information on HIV patterns and trends in drug-using populations was established at a NIDA-sponsored meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, in June...
NIDA Research Provides Data to Document and Improve the Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Health Services
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As part of its mission to treat and prevent drug abuse and addiction, NIDA has supported the development of numerous research-based drug abuse treatment protocols and drug abuse prevention models...
Matching Drug Abuse Treatment Services to Patient Needs Boosts Outcome Effectiveness
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Matching a drug abuse treatment patient with the right type of treatment program is a much-discussed but elusive goal for drug abuse treatment providers. In the real world, a patient...
Nicotine Conference Highlights Research Accomplishments and Challenges
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Provocative new research findings about the nicotine addiction process, how nicotine addiction drives tobacco use, and nicotine addiction treatment were the focus of "Addicted to Nicotine: A National Research Forum,"...
Cocaine Activates Different Brain Regions for Rush Versus Craving
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Using a brain imaging technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), NIDA-funded scientists have shown that different parts of the human brain are activated during cocaine "rush" versus cocaine craving...
NIDA Offers Free Slide Presentations for Teaching How Drugs Act in the Brain
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This slide illustrates how chemical messengers, such as dopamine, transmit information from brain cell to brain cell. The rat in this slide is self-administering cocaine. This slide shows the prefrontal...
New Publications Disseminate Research Findings on Nicotine
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NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner presents the new NIDA publication, "Nicotine Addiction," to conference participants. Two new publications that provide research-based information on nicotine addiction were released at NIDA's...
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Director Named for International Program Dr. Patricia Needle has been named director of NIDA's International Program in the Office of Science Policy and Communications. Previously, she served as acting director...
Researchers at NIDA Symposium Discuss New Directions for Health Services Research
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To help shape NIDA's agenda for health services research, the Institute sponsored a symposium in June titled "Forging the Link: Health Services Research on Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment." The...
New NIDA Center Will Address Health Issues Associated with Drug Abuse
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NIDA has established a new center to coordinate research, collaborate with other of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and related organizations, and provide leadership to NIDA offices and...
Films and TV Programs Recognized for Outstanding Portrayals of Drug Abuse
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More than 50 feature films and television programs have received PRISM Awards this year in recognition of outstanding and scientifically accurate portrayals of drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse and addiction...
Gender Matters in Drug Abuse Research
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Accumulating evidence indicates that drug abuse may begin and progress differently, have different consequences, and require different prevention and treatment approaches for women and men. Therefore, NIDA has strongly supported...
Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse May Affect Later Behavior and Learning
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NIDA-funded studies are beginning to show that children who have been prenatally exposed to illicit drugs may be at risk of later behavioral and learning difficulties. Long-term studies using sophisticated...
Researchers Find Gender Differences in How Drug Abusers Respond to HIV Prevention Strategies
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Men who abuse drugs are more likely to reduce their sexual risks of HIV infection if they are given risk-reduction information on the street, while women drug abusers respond better...
NIDA's Division of Intramural Research Broadens its Neuroscience Focus
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The Division of Intramural Research (DIR) at NIDA's Addiction Research Center in Baltimore has augmented its neuroscience research activities with the addition of two new research branches - the Behavioral...
New Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Resources for Communities and Treatment Providers
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Assessing Drug Abuse Within and Across Communities: Community Epidemiology Surveillance Networks on Drug Abuse. Three new NIDA publications offer research-based information on preventing and treating drug abuse for communities, drug...
Men and Women in Drug Abuse Treatment Relapse at Different Rates and for Different Reasons
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Recent NIDA-funded studies have found that women in drug abuse treatment relapse less frequently than men do, at least partly because women are more likely to engage in group counseling...
Drug Abuse Cost to Society Set at $97.7 Billion, Continuing Steady Increase Since 1975
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The economic cost to U.S. society of drug abuse was an estimated $97.7 billion in 1992, according to recent calculations. The new cost estimate continues a pattern of strong and...
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Dr. Susan Coyle Directs Review of Clinical, Epidemiological, and Applied Sciences Research Dr. Susan Coyle Dr. Susan Coyle has been named chief of the Clinical, Epidemiological, and Applied Sciences Review...
Tobacco Smoke May Contain a Psychoactive Ingredient Other Than Nicotine
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Nicotine may not be the only psychoactive component in tobacco smoke, according to a study funded in part by NIDA. Using positron emission tomography, an advanced neuroimaging technology, Dr. Joanna...
Increases in Teen Drug Use Appear to Level Off
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Rates of increase in illicit drug use among the Nation's high school students showed some signs of slowing between 1996 and 1997, according to NIDA's annual Monitoring the Future study...
Brain Scans Open Window to View Cocaine's Effects on the Brain
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New NIDA-funded research supports a widely held theory that cocaine-induced euphoria is precipitated by blocking the normal flow of the chemical messenger dopamine in the brain. The findings also help...
Trends in Drug Use Among 8th, 10th, and 12th Graders
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Data from NIDA's 1997 Monitoring the Future study show the percentages during the past 3 years of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders who used drugs, including alcohol and tobacco. The...
Exploring the Role of Child Abuse in Later Drug Abuse
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As many as two-thirds of all people in treatment for drug abuse report that they were physically, sexually, or emotionally abused during childhood, research shows. However, the role of child...
Innovative Treatment Helps Traumatized Drug-Abusing Women
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NIDA-funded researcher has developed an innovative treatment program to meet the special needs of drug-abusing women who also are diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a disorder often associated with...
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Child Psychopathology and Drug Abuse Many childhood psychiatric disorders are strongly associated with subsequent substance abuse, participants at a NIDA meeting have concluded. However, a causal role remains to be...
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New Members Join NIDA's National Advisory Council Four new members have been approved by Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Donna E. Shalala to join NIDA's National Advisory Council on...
Current Trends in Drug Use Worldwide
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At the meeting last summer of the Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) and the International Epidemiology Work Group (IEWG) on Drug Abuse, researchers presented data from 1995 and 1996 that...
Curbing Tuberculosis in Out-of-Treatment Injecting Drug Users
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In addition to developing strategies to deal successfully with tuberculosis (TB) among injecting drug users with HIV in drug abuse treatment programs, NIDA-supported researchers also have developed effective approaches to...
Facts About Nicotine and Tobacco Products
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About 62 million people in the United States ages 12 and older, or 29 percent of the population, are current cigarette smokers, according to the 1996 National Household Survey on...
Linking Medical Care With Drug Abuse Treatment Stems Tuberculosis Among HIV-Infected Drug Users
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Injecting drug users with HIV/AIDS can be treated successfully for tuberculosis (TB) in methadone treatment programs that provide comprehensive medical care, according to NIDA-supported research. Integrating medical care and drug...
Like Other Drugs of Abuse, Nicotine Disrupts the Brain's Pleasure Circuit
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All drugs of abuse disrupt the normal flow of the neurotransmitter dopa-mine, stimulating its release and increasing its brain levels. This action is believed to be significantly involved in producing...
International Panel Seeks Better Ways to Apply Drug Abuse Data
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Every year, epidemiologic researchers from around the world get together to share the latest data they have gathered on the patterns, trends, and consequences of drug abuse. The most recent...
Cocaine Abuse May Lead to Strokes and Mental Deficits
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In 1977, a 43-year-old man came to an emergency room in New York City after having injected cocaine into a muscle in his left arm. Between 1 and 2 hours...
NIDA's Dr. Rapaka Recognized for Excellence in Scientific Administration
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Dr. Rao Rapaka Dr. Rao Rapaka, chief of the Basic Neurobiology and Biological Systems Branch in NIDA's Division of Basic Research, is the 1997 recipient of the J. Michael Morrison...
The Rise and Fall of Tuberculosis In the United States
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After decades of decline, tuberculosis (TB) re-emerged during the 1980s to mount a new threat to the Nation's public health. From a low of 22,201 cases in 1985, TB rates...
Drug Addiction Treatment Conference Emphasizes Combining Therapies
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Drug addiction can often be treated best through a combination of behavioral and pharmacological treatments and social service interventions, according to speakers at NIDA's National Conference on Drug Addiction Treatment...
Addiction Research Can Provide Scientific Solutions to the Problem of Cigarette Smoking
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Every year, tobacco-related illnesses take the lives of more than 430,000 Americans. The force behind this grim statistic is the chronic, relapsing brain disease of addiction - in this case...
NIDA Probes the Elusive Link Between Child Abuse and Later Drug Abuse
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Substantial evidence points to childhood victimization as a major risk factor for later drug abuse. At least two-thirds of patients in drug abuse treatment centers say they were physically or...
Some Child Abuse Victims Are More Vulnerable Than Others to Drug Abuse
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Studies examining the link between child abuse and drug abuse provide an illuminating profile of child abuse victims' troubled lives. Physical or sexual abuse typically victimizes a child in the...
Violence Initiative - Interdepartmental Working Group on Violence Research
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Cochairs Wendy Baldwin, Deputy Director for Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health Jeremy Travis, Director, National Institute of Justice Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and...
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New Branch Chief Oversees Health Services Research Dr. Bennett Fletcher Dr. Bennett Fletcher has been named chief of the Services Research Branch (SRB) within NIDA's Division of Clinical and Services...
MERIT Awardee Examines Long-Term Effects of Prenatal Cocaine Exposure in Rats
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NIDA MERIT (Method to Extend Research In Time) Award winner Dr. Sheldon Sparber, at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, studies the effects of prenatal drug exposure on...
NIDA's "Report Card"
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NIDA constituent groups have a lot to say about NIDA's activities, and the Institute is taking note. Each year at NIDA's constituent conference, members of national groups in the field...
NIDA Constituents Focus on Unity and Advocacy
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Discussions about how to get the message out that drug addiction is a disease, not just a failure of choice, took center stage at this year's NIDA constituent conference. Calls...
Presidential Early Career Award Presented to NIDA Grantee
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Behavioral neuroscientist and NIDA grantee Dr. Sharon L. Walsh of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has earned a 1997 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for...
Interagency Pacts and NIH Collaborations Extend NIDA's Research Reach
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Teamwork with sister Institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other Federal agencies is increasing the cost-effectiveness and extending the reach of NIDA's research. In one current research...
NIDA Expands Research to Meet Challenge of Methamphetamine Abuse
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Since the late 1980s, use of methamphetamine, a powerful central nervous system stimulant, has been a problem in western areas of the United States. More recently, NIDA's drug abuse monitoring...
NIDA Initiative Tackles Methamphetamine Use
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In response to an upsurge in heroin use among America's young people in recent years, NIDA convened a national research-based conference on Heroin Use and Addiction in Washington, D.C., this...
Comparing Methamphetamine and Cocaine
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Methamphetamine and cocaine belong to the broad class of drugs called psychostimulants that also includes amphetamine and methylphenidate. The two drugs often are compared to each other because they produce...
Participants at NIDA's 1997 Constituent Conference
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NIDA's Fourth Annual Constituent Conference, held in late 1997, drew representatives from 47 constituent organizations. Thirty-two organizations attended the first conference in 1994. American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry American Academy...
Public Television Series on Addiction Will Draw on NIDA Research
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NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner and NIDA-funded researchers are working with commentator Bill Moyers and Public Affairs Television on "Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home," a five-part public television...
NIDA Researchers Developing Problem-Free Pain Relievers
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New compounds for treating pain may soon be available for use with patients. Some appear to reduce pain with only minimal side effects, whereas others might be administered in combination...
NIDA Conference Aims "Preemptive Strike" at Increased Heroin Use Among Nation's Young People
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In response to an upsurge in heroin use among America's young people in recent years, NIDA convened a national research-based conference on Heroin Use and Addiction in Washington, D.C., this...
Research Must Determine Medical Potential of Marijuana, NIH Expert Panel Concludes
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A National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel of experts has concluded that critical questions about the therapeutic usefulness of marijuana remain largely unanswered by studies that have been conducted to...
NIH Panel Calls for Expanded Methadone Treatment for Heroin Addiction
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An expert panel at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Conference on Effective Medical Treatment of Heroin Addiction has concluded that heroin addiction is a medical disorder that...
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Understanding Addiction as a Brain Disease Scientific research over the past 20 years has dramatically enhanced our knowledge of drug abuse and addiction. We now understand that addiction is a...
Applying Scientific Research Can Counter Rise in Heroin Use
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NIDA has launched what we hope will be a successful preemptive strike using the full power of science to stop a troubling spread of heroin use among our Nation's youth...
NIDA Materials to Help Communities Develop Drug Abuse Prevention Programs
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To help communities develop drug abuse prevention programs for children and adolescents, NIDA has published a new comprehensive set of Drug Abuse Prevention Research Dissemination and Applications (RDA) materials. The...
Contributions of Behavioral Research to AIDS Studies Recognized
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Behavioral and social sciences research is playing an increasingly critical role in the Nation's public health response to the spread of AIDS, according to experts at a National Institutes of...
Is Morphine-Induced Shrinking of Neurons a Clue to Drug Dependence?
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A NIDA-funded study has shown that chronic administration of morphine to rats reduces by one-quarter the size of dopamine-producing cells in the rodents' brains. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a brain...
NIDA's Town Meetings Take Drug Abuse Research Information to Chicago and Philadelphia
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NIDA held Town Meetings in Chicago and Philadelphia earlier this year, the latest in a series of Town Meetings the Institute is conducting around the country to dispel myths about...
DATOS Documents Dramatic Decline In Drug Abuse Treatment Services
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Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS) researchers report a widening gap over the last decade between patients' needs for support services that go beyond basic treatment techniques such as drug...
Bulletin Board
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Editor's Note: Welcome to the Bulletin Board. This new NIDA NOTES feature will present informative capsules on new research, updates on previously reported research, information about upcoming events, introductions to...
Prism Awards Recognize Accurate Portrayals of Drug Abuse and Violence In Films and TV
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NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner joined with representatives of the Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) last spring to recognize outstanding efforts by the entertainment industry to portray drug abuse...
Study Sheds New Light on the State of Drug Abuse Treatment Nationwide
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The four most common forms of drug abuse treatment are all effective in reducing drug use. That is the major finding from a NIDA-sponsored nationwide study of drug abuse treatment...
New NIDA Drug Abuse Education Materials for Middle School Students
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NIDA has released a new series of drug abuse education materials called Mind Over Matter. Designed for students in grades five through nine, the series consists of six full-color glossy...
NIDA Advances Drug Abuse Research in Andean Countries
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As part of an ongoing effort to further international drug abuse research, NIDA is helping enhance drug abuse research in several countries in the Andes Mountain region of South America...
National Study Offers Strong Evidence of the Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Treatment
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A newly released nationwide study shows impressive reductions in drug use for patients in the four common types of drug abuse treatment. This good news comes from the NIDA-supported Drug...
Treatment Histories: The Long View of Addiction
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Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS) researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles looked at the treatment histories of addicts in treatment to learn more about the life...
Questions and Answers About Anabolic Steroids
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What Are They? Anabolic steroids are drugs derived from the male hormone testosterone. They promote muscle growth and increase lean mass. Although anabolic steroids have many approved medical uses, they...
NIDA Initiative Will Stimulate Improvements In Drug Abuse Treatment
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Over the years, researchers have amassed an impressive amount of scientific knowledge about the treatment of drug abuse and addiction. This research has clearly shown us that drug abuse treatment...
Gender Affects Relationships Between Drug Abuse and Psychiatric Disorders
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In the general population, women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer depression. But among cocaine and alcohol abusers, men are as likely to be diagnosed with...
NIDA Launches Drug Abuse Treatment Initiative
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Several years ago, a NIDA-supported researcher in Vermont discovered that a new behavioral treatment could reduce cocaine abuse among mostly white rural patients. Later, when NIDA intramural and extramural researchers...
Steroid Prevention Program Scores With High School Athletes
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A NIDA-funded drug abuse prevention program is showing high school football players that they do not need to take anabolic steroids to build powerful muscles and improve athletic performance. By...
Targeting Drug Abuse Treatment Programs to the Homeless
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Perhaps no group in society is more elusive, more difficult to help than the Nation's homeless. They are often loners who tenaciously avoid contact with others and often shun offers...