The federal role in drug abuse technology transfer: a history and perspective

The past 30 years have seen a focus on substance abuse research in association with the creation of federal agencies specifically mandated to guide that effort. While research has been well supported and largely productive, there has been increasing concern with the slow pace of adoption of the findings from that research. The history of those efforts suggests a long-standing concern with knowledge development, and a continuing reliance on print media to achieve knowledge application. Nonetheless, evidence from other human service fields, and increasingly from the substance abuse field, indicates interpersonal strategies are dramatically more effective in achieving the individual and organizational behavior change needed to achieve technology transfer. Argument is made that the federal government remains the best, if not the only resource for promoting technology transfer. A paradigm is described to further federal efforts in this area, and structural elements suggested for the achievement of technology transfer goals.