A discussion of the concept of technology transfer of research-based drug "abuse" prevention and treatment interventions

Abstract

With the availability of both drug user prevention and treatment interventions that have demonstrated effectiveness under rigorous experimental design, new avenues of research have opened up to bring these strategies to scale. Of major importance is adapting evidence-based prevention and treatment programs to community specifications without diluting their power. A number of researchers have examined this issue from a variety of perspectives. This brief discussion is an attempt to bring those perspectives together within a conceptual framework that integrates them around research issues and questions. Several theoretical perspectives that have not been brought into the technology transfer discussion are mentioned, others need to be reviewed for their potential to guide further research in this area.