Washington Roundup

October 12, 2001

Contact: Jenny Collier

Legal Action Center

202-544-5478

                                                          

The National Institutes of Health Appoints Dr. Glen Hanson to Serve as the Acting Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse

This week, the National Institutes of Health named Glen Hanson, D.D.S., Ph.D., the Acting Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).  His appointment follows the resignation of Dr. Alan Leshner, who served as NIDA’s director since 1994.  Dr. Leshner left NIDA to become the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a prestigious institution in the international scientific community.

Dr. Hanson is a recognized expert on psychostimulants, known especially for his research on MDMA (Ecstasy), amphetamines, and brain chemistry.  He joined NIDA in September 2000 as the director of NIDA’s Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research and is a professor in the University of Utah’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.  An accomplished researcher, Dr. Hanson has successfully competed for NIDA and National Institute of Mental Health grant support since the early 1980’s, and in 1998 he received a Senior Scientist Award from NIDA.  Dr. Hanson is a frequent reviewer for most of the major pharmacology and neuroscience journals, and he serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.  He holds a D.D.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah.

Dr. Hanson will assume his duties on December 1, 2001.  It is expected that Dr. Hanson will serve as the Acting Director of NIDA for at least one year.  During this time, the National Institutes of Health will convene a search committee to review candidates for a permanent NIDA director.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Announces Its Restructuring Plan: Changes to Occur over the Next Few Months

This week, Charles Curie, Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced his plan for restructuring SAMHSA to achieve the goal of streamlined organization laid out by President Bush and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson earlier this year.  The Administration has been seeking to achieve several reorganization goals throughout the federal government, including consolidating decision-making power in the offices of political appointees and streamlining government operations by removing layers of employees from certain functions and activities in each agency. 

While many important details will evolve over the next four to six months as the plan is being implemented, major changes will include:

               


•                      Forming an executive decision making-team that will include the SAMHSA Administrator and the Directors of the Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Mental Health Services.  This team will make all major political, administrative, budget and policy decisions, with consensus being the goal but not the requirement.  The SAMHSA Administrator will be the final decision-maker in all cases. 

•                      Consolidating budget and funding development and decision making for the three Centers and SAMHSA in the Office of the Administrator at SAMHSA. 

•                      Moving key policy staff from the three Centers to the Office of the Administrator at SAMHSA.  These new policy positions at SAMHSA will be responsible for the budget and policy issues related to each of the Centers.

•                      Enlarging the SAMHSA Office of Communications to enable it to do all the media, public affairs, and constituency liaison work for the Centers and SAMHSA.  The Centers will continue to do program outreach and education.