Subcommittee Examines Role Science Can Play to Reduce Impacts of Methamphetamine Abuse and Addiction
(Washington, DC) – Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a hearing to better understand the methamphetamine addiction problem, and how science can inform and provide possible solutions.
Members discussed the interdisciplinary approach necessary to address the insidious nature of methamphetamine addiction, which crosses every strata of our society. The extent and duration of injury to the brain caused by methamphetamine addiction is unlike that seen for any other abused drug. Further research and support of basic neuroscience to understand healthy brain function, behavioral studies into patterns of addiction, and a better understanding of social networks and methamphetamine markets were all discussed as critical components of addressing this drug abuse. Members also discussed the risks to law enforcement associated with meth production. In 2007, this Committee developed the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act, which became law at a time when methamphetamine was primarily being created in “meth houses.” Members raised questions about whether the Act should be revisited in light of new methods of producing methamphetamine now being confronted by law enforcement.
Ranking Member Dan Lipinski (D-IL) stated in his opening remarks, “Congress and individual states have developed laws aimed at making the precursor chemicals for methamphetamine harder to purchase, but there is still work to be done. In order to do our jobs and craft effective policy to combat meth addiction, we need to know more about the science behind addiction and behind effective prevention and treatment programs. I hope today we will have an opportunity to explore the types of foundational social and behavior research, as well as the neuroscience research, which underly much of the more application-driven research.”
Ranking Member Lipinski continued, “Many people addicted to drugs trace their problem back to their school years and acting out teenage curiosity. Thus to meaningfully change this trend, our conversation must also include teen behavior and drug use, and how we might use the education system and public education campaigns as vehicles for prevention. Unless we apply what we know about the teenager’s brain and behavior to the design of such education efforts, and change course as we learn more, we may be setting ourselves up to fail.”
Dr. T. Celeste Napier, Director of the Center for Compulsive Behavior and Addiction and Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center, responded to questions about federal support for research into programs designed to educate children on the dangers of methamphetamines. “A particularly vulnerable population to the ravages of methamphetamine is our nation’s youth. We must address this need, and I believe there is a role for neuroscience in this effort. Educational institutions typically include drug education in their health curriculum in grades 7-10th, and drug?related topics often focus on the legal consequences of illicit drug use, not health. As the striking epidemiological data suggest, the traditional approach to drug education is outdated and ineffective. New strategies that are initiated in earlier grades, involve yearly programming at regular intervals with up?to?date science?based curriculum and successful prevention methods, and include age?appropriate guidance are critically needed. [Integrated strategies will] include both the neuroscience-based knowledge of how abused drugs act on the adolescent brain as well as the social/emotional learning required to reverse the rising trends of drug abuse among our youth.”
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