Marihuana: A Conversation with NIDA's Robert L. DuPont

Robert L. DuPont, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), made headlines recently when he became one of the first Administration officials publicly to recommend a liberalization of marihuana laws. The occasion was a press conference accompanying the release of Marihuana and Health, NIDA's fifth annual report to the Congress on marihuana research. Recently, Science talked with DuPont and asked him to elaborate on those views. DuPont, a 40-year-old Harvard M.D., served as Director of the District of Columbia's Narcotics Treatment Administration from 1970 to 1973, where he conducted a comprehensive program for treatment of heroin addiction. In June 1973, Richard Nixon appointed him director of the White House Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. He held that position until the office was terminated on 30 June 1975. He has been director of NIDA since September 1973.