NIDA Strategic Plan (Continued)

Strategy 3: Educate the Public About Drug Abuse and Addiction

Given the impact of drug abuse and addiction on virtually every aspect of American society, it is critical that NIDA's research be both useful and used. Thus, NIDA's mission must include efforts to make the results of the Institute's research program available to as wide an audience as possible (see box). In recent years, the Institute has stepped up these efforts and plans to continue doing so in the next 5 years:

• Develop science-based educational materials presenting research findings and their implications in plain English.
• Disseminate materials broadly to reach as wide an audience as possible with information that is useful, usable, and used.

To ensure that treatment providers have available the most current science-based approaches, NIDA is supporting the development of a series of treatment manuals, "Therapy Manuals for Drug Addiction." This series reflects NIDA's commitment to ensure the rapid application of basic findings in real-life settings. The manuals will be based on therapies that have demonstrated their effectiveness in NIDA-supported community-based treatment studies, and they are intended for use by drug abuse treatment practitioners, mental health professionals, and other health care providers concerned with the treatment of drug addiction. The manuals present clear, helpful information to aid drug treatment practitioners in providing the best possible care that science has to offer. They will provide additional tools in an expanding clinical toolbox and will be an important supplement to the available therapies for meeting the differing needs of different types of patients and of clinical programs.

Mind Over Matter: Science Education and Drug Abuse Awareness Science education plays an important role in NIDA's outreach efforts, and the award-winning Mind Over Matter series is just one of our important contributions to the science education field. The eye-catching, thought-provoking series now includes eight magazines in a new, compact format for grades five through nine. The effects of methamphetamine on the brain are the latest topic in this popular series. This series uses what we know about drugs and the brain to educate young people both about neuroscience broadly defined and about the specific effects of particular drugs on the body, especially the brain. In each magazine, Sara Bellum, a budding science student, takes students on a scientific journey to learn about the brain's complex responses to specific drugs - inhalants, hallucinogens, marijuana, opiates, nicotine, stimulants, methamphetamine, and steroids. A brightly colored poster is included on the back of each magazine. The Teacher's Guide, developed to accompany the Mind Over Matter magazines, includes chapters on inhalants, hallucinogens, marijuana, opiates, stimulants, methamphetamine, and steroids. Each chapter describes the effects of specific drugs or drug types on the anatomy and physiology of the brain and other organs. The Guide also contains activities that can be used in the classroom. Background information and lesson plans in combination with the magazines in the series will promote both understanding of the physical reality of drug abuse and curiosity about neuroscience. To ensure that the series reached its intended audience, in 1998, NIDA launched its "NIDA Goes to School" campaign, in which the Mind Over Matter series and other NIDA educational materials were mailed to every public and private middle school in the United States as well as Department of Defense schools abroad. By the beginning of 2000, more than 1 million sets of Mind Over Matter materials had been distributed throughout the country.

In 1999, NIDA released the first science-based guide to drug addiction treatment, "Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide," which describes the overarching conditions required for truly effective drug abuse treatment. The 54-page booklet also delineates the most common types of drug addiction treatment, identifies treatment approaches for which there is strong scientific evidence of efficacy, and answers the questions about treatment that are asked most frequently by providers, policymakers, patients, and the public. In the next 5 years, as the CTN advances our knowledge of what works in drug abuse treatment, NIDA will rapidly disseminate those findings in a number of different formats to ensure that research can both influence practice and inform policy.

One of the Institute's more successful efforts has been the NIDA-sponsored "Town Meetings" that are held around the country to confront local drug abuse and addiction issues. For example, the Boston Town Meeting, "Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction: Myths vs. Reality," was coordinated by the Institute in the wake of community outrage that followed the heroin overdose death of a popular Boston firefighter. Attendees included scientists, civic leaders, policymakers, public officials, and drug abuse prevention and treatment professionals. Key drug abuse researchers discussed trends and patterns of drug abuse in the Boston area, community attitudes toward alcohol and drug abuse, effective drug prevention and treatment strategies, and the impact of managed care. In addition, participants considered how the results of research can be used to improve local responses to the problem and shape local and statewide policy.

To date, NIDA-sponsored town meetings have taken place in Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, and 13 other cities. The Institute plans to continue to build upon the successful town meeting program by reaching out to other areas that are feeling a significant impact from drug abuse.

NIDA recognizes that supporting and conducting outstanding research is not enough, that the fruits of its research must be not only useful and usable, but used. Therefore, NIDA will continue in its efforts to disseminate its research to as wide an audience as is possible.