The booklet describes how communities can use NIDA’s principles of effective prevention and treatment programs and the latest information regarding the effects of drug use on the brain. This information is crucial in helping community activists and others understand that addiction is a chronic relapsing disease like asthma and diabetes and should be viewed and treated in the same way. NIDA reports that effective prevention programs comprehensively target all forms of drug abuse, including tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and inhalants. NIDA research also indicates that no single modality is appropriate for all individuals. The type of information available from NIDA, both online and through print publications, includes facts about drug abuse such as: (1) During 1998, approximately one-third of all new AIDS cases in the U.S. were related directly or indirectly to injection drug use; (2) Between 30 and 60 percent of drug abusers have concurrent mental health diagnoses, including personality disorders, major depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder; and (3) Drug treatment reduces drug use by 40 to 60 percent and significantly decreases criminal activity during and after treatment. Figures