Global infrastructure for addiction science: A historical perspective

Aims: This poster describes historical trends in the global infrastructure supporting addiction science, which includes research on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. It evaluates the growth and nature of that infrastructure from a public health perspective, i.e., in terms of its ability to address substance-related problems in vulnerable populations throughout the world. Five areas of infrastructure are considered: 1) research centers; 2) professional societies; 3) addiction-specialty journals; 4) research funding organizations; and 5) drug, tobacco and alcohol policy institutes.

Methods: The method consisted of an extensive review of internet sources, published articles, and bibliometric analyses to obtain quantitative and qualitative information about the cumulative growth of infrastructure elements, as well as their contributions to the evolution of addiction science.

Results: There has been significant growth in all areas of addiction science in the past 50 years, resembling a log-normal growth curve that has not yet reached asymptote. The growth has been most pronounced in developed in countries, especially those with severe drug and alcohol problems, such as the USA, other English-speaking countries, and the Nordic countries.

Conclusions: Addiction science has grown as an interdisciplinary field of study, in ways not unlike other areas of biomedical science. Both the structure and function of the global addiction infrastructure seems to support basic and clinical science, with relatively little attention to the policy and public health implications of the research.