It presents recommendations from conferences of the Public Health Service (PHS) agencies in Coolfont (West Virginia) in 1986 and Charlottesville (Virginia) in 1988, from the 1988 reports from National Academy of Sciences, and from the Presidential Commission on HIV regarding objectives of drug abuse treatment. Activities under the auspices of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and Centers for Disease Control resulting from these meetings include substance abuse treatment services, epidemiological research and prevention intervention research among IV-drug users, and outreach demonstration projects specific for IV-drug users not in treatment as well as risk-reduction programs, surveillance systems, multimedia campaigns, and Congressional anti-drug abuse legislation. The factors of central planning, funding issues of priorities, specification of activities for funding, and public versus individual rights directly impact on the implementation of these programs. 18 references.