NIDA director discusses drug addiction
“Addiction is a brain disease, but it’s not just a brain disease,” said Alan Leshner, PhD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and guest lecturer to Wayne State University’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences. He noted that “drug use is a voluntary, preventable behavior,” but he also acknowledged that it is not a simple problem. It is a serious social issue and a dangerous health issue with many complex contributing factors. Dr. Leshner commands a budget of approximately $608 million and oversees NIDA funding which supports more than 85 percent of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. During a two-day visit to WSU, Dr. Leshner delivered a keynote address, spoke with faculty members and students, and visited labs and facilities related to research and treatment programs for drug abuse and addiction. He also spoke about NIDA’s Clinical Trials Network, which will provide a national infrastructure to speed the testing and delivery of new drug abuse therapies. It will be launched later this year and Wayne State will likely be part of the network during its second phase of funding. Dr. Leshner commended WSU and Thomas Uhde, MD, chair of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, for advancing this discipline in the right direction. As Dr. Uhde said, the only way to attack the problem of drug abuse and addiction is to nurture partnerships between researchers, clinical treatment centers and community programs. Charles Schuster, former NIDA director and current WSU professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, said, “Dr. Leshner has made great strides in making the public aware that drug addiction is a brain disease that requires long-term treatment involving both pharmacotherapy and behavioral interventions.” This, according to Dr. Schuster, is a key message in helping communities understand the complexity of drug abuse and drug addiction.
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