title: Federalizing medical campaigns against alcoholism and drug abuse.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The formation of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP) in the early 1970s dramatically expanded scientific and medical efforts to control alcoholism and drug abuse in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Drawing on a variety of primary, secondary, and archival sources, this article describes the creation and early years of these agencies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  I show that while the agencies appeared at roughly the same time, their creation involved separate sets of issues and actors. In addition, I show that SAODAP received more money and resources, even though advocates for alcoholics mobilized a stronger lobbying campaign.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Two factors explain this discrepancy in money and resources: (1) alcoholism was framed as a public health problem, whereas drug abuse was drawn into broader debates about crime and social decline; and (2) alcohol programs relied on congressional support, whereas drug programs found champions at high levels of the Nixon administration. These political and cultural factors help explain why current programs for illegal drugs receive more federal support, despite alcohol's greater public health burden.
authors.affiliation: Office of NIH History, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD, USA. grischa.metlay@nih.gov
authors.forename: Grischa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Metlay
mesh_terms: D000436:Alcoholics Anonymous / Q000266:history; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008119:Lobbying; D009315:National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.); D054563:National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (U.S.); D012952:Societies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States