Behavioral pharmacology, drug abuse, and the future

The importance of behavioral pharmacology to understanding the behavioral and pharmacological mechanisms contributing to the maintenance of drug-seeking behavior in humans cannot be over-emphasized. Behavioral research has been responsible for the shift in focus from the drug itself and the psychopathology of its users to the dynamic interaction between the individual and the environment in controlling drug-taking. Unfortunately, there has been a trend in the area of drug self-administration studies over the last decade to focus on research that largely ignores behavioral determinants. If we are to contine to advance our ability to predict and in effect understand the etiology and maintenance of drug-seeking behavior in humans, we must once again attempt to conduct complex behavioral studies using drug self-administration methods. In this endeavor, researchers need to consider mechanisms for improving the quantitative precision of measures of reinforcing efficacy and developing a strategy for efficiently investigating the myriad of variables that could influence behavior. There is evidence that research methods can be developed that incorporate improved precision and for organizing research findings into coherent systems that go beyond specific findings (e.g. behavioral economics). Finally, an approach that combines the expertise of epidemiologists and behavioral pharmacologists for determining the validity of the predictions should be considered. While the emphasis of this essay is on the prediction of abuse, the research agenda outlined is consonant with many goals. For instance, an understanding of the variables affecting the reinforcing effects of drugs is of paramount importance in developing effective prevention and treatment interventions as well as furthering our understanding of brain mechanisms involved in the control of drug-seeking behaviour.