In 1995, the NIDA-supported “Monitoring the Future” annual
survey found that the use of cigarettes and most illicit drugs
had increased significantly among 8th, 10th, and 12th-graders
over the previous year. At the same time, the perceived risk of
drug use among high school students decreased and has been
declining since 1991 . No longer can anyone deny that drug abuse
remains one of the nation’s greatest health problems. NIDA, as
the largest organization in the world devoted to drug abuse
research, recently instituted a number of changes to enhance its
ability to respond to fast-changing trends in drug abuse,
understand the behavioral and neurobiological underpinnings of
drug abuse, develop prevention efforts, and discover better
behavioral and pharmacological treatments for drug abuse and
addiction. In previous Observer issues, I have spoken about the
gains conferred by the NIDA reorganization. Among them, support
for behavioral science research in particular has been expanded
and enhanced. The understandin