9The influence of epidemiology on drug control policy

The changing face of drug abuse in the United States of America and elsewhere in the world over the past century presages what is to come in the fields of drug abuse prevention and treatment in the twenty-first century and in the new millennium. For the first time, professionals involved in those fields are prepared to address the challenge. Professionals of today are no longer dependent on ideology to drive research efforts. A vast knowledge base is now available that has its foundations in science. Although research is derived from projects supported and undertaken in the United States, a growing research infrastructure and a number of interactive networks enable research from other countries to be incorporated into that knowledge base. Such research and interconnected networks will enable those committed to protect future generations from the devastating psycho-logical, social and physical consequences that arise from drug abuse and drug dependency, with particular reference to illicit drugs. In order to understand the current state of science relating to epidemiological research in the field of drug abuse, it is important to review the grounds for designating drug abuse as dangerous and illegal. Attempts to study drug abuse by establishing an infrastructure to support epidemiological and other research, in particular that related to marijuana and heroin use (both of which dominated the research agenda in the United States for several decades), grew out of concerns about the negative effects of drug use. Such research informed those interested in developing policies concerned with interdiction and demand reduction. In the present article, an overview of the historical development of epidemiological data systems in the United States is given. The discussion focuses on means by which to continue and improve the influence of epidemiology on policy