Mentally retarded persons appear to use/abuse alcohol at about the same rate as their noncognitively impaired counterparts, and illicit drugs at moderately lower rates. When substance abuse is identified in mentally retarded individuals, negative consequences are consistent with those in non-mentally retarded populations, e.g., higher rates of psychiatric comorbidity, nightmares, suicide, mistrust, family discord and abuse, loss of friends, poor school/work performance, promiscuity, truancy, and DUI’s. However, little is known regarding which assessments and interventions are most effective in this population, given the absence of published treatment outcome studies and case examples. The article finds this particularly disconcerting in light of these detrimental consequences of substance use identified in mentally retarded persons. Anecdotal data suggest that treatment for these individuals requires modifications of existing empirically derived substance abuse interventions to accommodate their unique needs. References