Federal support from the two principal agencies for drug abuse research -- the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Program (OJP) -- increased by over 200 percent between 1980 and 1990. When funding for AIDS-related research is factored into this equation, the figure jumps to over 400 percent. Drug abuse research funding grew rapidly between 1987 and 1990; however, the rate of growth was steady at NIDA and more irregular at OJP. NIDA has spent the most money on research related to treatment, followed by prevention and causality, while OJP has spent as much on prevention as on causality and treatment studies combined. Expert researchers surveyed by GAO agreed that future research should focus on the psychological and social-environmental factors that contribute to drug abuse. 6 tables, 11 figures, 5 appendixes, and 22 references