Intravenous drug users account for nearly one-third of the current AIDS cases in the United States--second only to gay males--and are responsible for 72 percent of female and 59 percent of pediatric cases of AIDS.
BARRY S. BROWN was Chief of the Community Research Branch of the National Institute of Drug Abuse of the Public Health Service until 1992. He is the author of Addicts and Aftercare-Community Intergration of the Former Drug User (1979) and of multiple national reports, chapters in books, and professional journal articles on the subject of drug abuse and drug treatment. He is currently on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
GEORGE M. BESCHNER, a THI Senior Research Associate, is Principal Investigator of two drug abuse research projects: a national epidemiology study of drug abuse patterns and trends, and quick response studies to address policy issues./e Previously, Mr. Beschner was employed by NIDA (1971-88), serving as Chief of the Treatment Research Branch and, more recently, designed and directed the National AIDS Demonstration Research Project.