In an effort to find the most effective treatments for drug addiction, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has established a clinical trials research network to test new pharmacological and behavioral treatments in diverse patient populations. Clinical trials have been used for diseases such as cancer and AIDS as a fast, effective, and safe way to test new treatments. Also, as with other diseases, there are a number of effective treatments for addiction. However, the efficacy of these new treatments has been demonstrated primarily in specialized treatment research settings, with somewhat restricted patient populations. As a consequence, few of these new drug-abuse treatments are being applied on a wide-scale basis in real-life practice settings

In response, NIDA has established the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). The CTN is based on a model used successfully by other NIH institutes, including the...