PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR AND MEDICAL STAFF ATTITUDES TOWARD 6 HYPOTHETICAL MEDICATIONS FOR SUBSTANCE-ABUSE TREATMENT

There is growing interest in a number of medications with proven clini cal efficacy or potential for treating substance abuse. At the same ti me, many treatment programs make little, if any, use of pharmacotherap y. The reasons for this circumstance are not clear. An exploratory sur vey using focus groups and telephone interviews with medical personnel and administrators from 38 programs and three professional associatio ns suggests that program staff perceive a variety of drawbacks to phar macotherapy, which may help account for the lack of more widespread us e of this treatment modality.