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Tell NIH: We need a paradigm shift in addiction research!

I was pleased to read about the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study under the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) that will examine a population of 10,000 children to study issues related to substance abuse. The ABCD study will offer far more relevant information than can be gained from animal experiments. 

Unfortunately NIDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) continue to grant significant money to animal drug studies each year. I believe it’s time for NIDA and NIH to initiate a true paradigm shift in the study of drug addiction, one that will focus more intently on human studies and incorporate a stated goal to reduce animal research.

Under the ToxCast program, we have seen how NIH joined with other government agencies in recognizing the need to end reliance on animal tests in chemical testing. We need to apply these same principles to the study of drugs, which are, after all, chemicals. Recognizing the failure of animal tests to generate adequate safety data, the ToxCast project has incorporated a plan to reduce animal tests. But we are lacking a similar shift in the way substance abuse is studied.

With the ability to study the human brain non-invasively and conduct extensive genetic analysis, the time has come for NIH and NIDA to shift away from supporting animal experiments, which are inhumane and give information that is not wholly applicable to humans. 

NIDA has announced that it is reorganizing to increase efficiency, including a greater focus on clinical neuroscience. The latest scientific knowledge indicates that there can be no better way to achieve this than a substantive effort to move away from animal experiments and shift to a human-based focus.

This letter is going to Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse A copy will also go to Francis Collins, Director, NIH

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