Addiction Research

Data and Facts
Addiction is a treatment-oriented disease. According to a definition of the WHO, addiction is characterised by four criteria: Insurmountable need to take and acquire the drug tendency to increase dosage (tolerance increase) Psychological and generally also physical dependence on the effects of the drug and harm to the individual and/or society.
Alcoholism, nicotine and medication dependence as well as dependence on illegal drugs like heroin and cocain are considered substance-related addictions. Alcohol dependence is social medicine problem number one in Germany: According to estimates, up to 4.4 million Germans have alcohol problems that should be treated; 1.6 million Germans are alchohol-dependent. The recidivism rate for alchohol abuse is extremely high: only three percent succeed in achieving long-term abstinence after in-patient treatment. Over 40,000 alcoholics die per year from consequences of their addiction. 100,000 Germans fall victim to cigarette consumption every year. The most frequent causes of death among smokers are cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The number of regular users of hard drugs is estimated by experts at more than 125,000 throughout Germany. The number of consumers of ecstasy and other so-called "party drugs" is estimated at more than 500,000. Between 740,000 and 1.4 million people in Germany are addicted to medications in Germany.

What Does the BMBF Do?
Since the start of the 90s, research on biological and psychosocial factors in drug abuse and addiction have been systematically supported in Germany. In the initial years, research into the basic principles stood in the foreground. The individual projects and smaller joint projects were supported with a total of 24 million EURO (a total of 39 projects in the funding period from 1991 to 2001).

Research Consortia - Horizontally and Vertically Networked
The current emphasis of this research focus is primarily helping researchers from the various disciplines as well as the areas of research and care to work together more closely. This is all the more important because the majority of addiction patients are treated in institutions of general care (such as doctors' practices, in non-university clinics or a drug counseling centres) and the university clinics only play a lesser role. The goal is to improve the transfer of research results into practice. For this reason, four regional or locally organised consortia for addiction research were founded within the framework of the new funding measures; these consortia link together the available resources and work on site with the care institutions. Alcohol and nicotine dependence stand at the centre of the research. Research on illegal drugs (e.g. cannabis, opiates, party drugs) is performed in individual projects. In the first funding phase, approximately nine million EURO is available for the consortia from 2001 to 2004. A second phase (2004 to 2007) is planned. German addiction research has become more effective by the consolidation into consortia and is also finding international recognition: Cooperation projects exist today at the federal level with the USA, Poland and the countries of the European Union. Intensified commitment to addiction research has also been seen at the state level. The BMBF supports four research consortia:

Baden-Württemberg Consortium
Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Karl Mann
Central Institute for Mental Health
Postfach 12 21 20
68072 Mannheim
Tel.: 06 21 / 17 03-9 40
Fax: 06 21 / 17 03-9 45
E-mail: sucht@as200.zi-mannheim.de
Internet: http://www.bw-suchtweb.de/site.php

North East Consortium (EARLINT)
Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Ulrich John
Institute for Epidemiology and Social Medicine
Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald
Walther-Rathenau-Straße 48
17487 Greifswald
Tel.: 0 38 34 / 86 77 00
Fax: 0 38 34 / 86 77 01
E-mail: ujohn@mail.uni-greifswald.de
Internet:
http://www.medizin.uni-greifswald.de/epidem/forschung/intervention/earlint.html

North Rhine Westphalia Consortium
Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Markus Gastpar
Clinic for General Psychiatry
Rhine Region State and Academic Clinic
Virchowstrasse 174
45147 Essen
Tel.: 02 01 / 72 27-1 90
Fax: 02 01 / 72 27-3 03
E-mail: m.gastpar@uni-essen.de
Internet: http://www.suchtforschungsverbund-nrw.de/start.html

Bavaria/Dresden Consortium
Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wittchen
Clinical Psychology and Pychotherapy
Technical University of Dresden
Am Falkenbrunnen, Chemnitzer Strasse 46
01187 Dresden
Tel.: 03 51 / 46 33-69 85
Fax: 0351/4633-69 84
E-mail: wittchen@psy1.psych.tu-dresden.de
Internet: http://www.psychologie.tu-dresden.de/asat/

or:
Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry
Kraepelinstr. 10
80804 Munich
Tel.: 0 89 / 3 06 22-5 46
Fax: 0 89 / 3 06 22-5 44