The objectives of the Drug Abuse Research Center have remained: 1) to provide a formal stucture designed to encourage the cooperation of basic research scientists and clinical researchers in problem-oriented research, 2) to encourage communication among basic research scientists working in related fields, 3) to promote the development and/or expansion of certain key areas in drug abuse research and 4) to provide an inter-disciplinary educational environment for students and faculty interested in various areas of drug abuse research.  The philosphy of the Research Center is that drug abuse is a complex problem which needs to be studied on a variety of levels ranging from a drug's sub-cellular actions through its sociological impact.  It is impossible for any single department, let alone an isolated individual, to possess the expertise to study drugs at all these levels.  The function of the Research Center has been to provide a formal structure for encouraging interaction between scientists and clinicians from several academic departments, all of whom are working in areas related to drug abuse.  We feel that in the first four years as a Research Center we have succeeded in bringing together scientists and clinicians from divergent areas who have discovered the fruitfulness of such contacts.