The Drug Abuse Reporting Program began in 1969 as a comprehensive data system that included intake and during-treatment information on individuals entering drug treatment programs funded by the U.S. government. Over time, it was the basis for carrying out the first national evaluation study of community-based treatment programs. It was conducted at Texas Christian University over a period of twenty years and included four distinct phases of research: (1) describing major treatment modalities and the characteristics of drug abusers entering them in the early 1970s; (2) describing during-treatment performance measures and how they related to differences in treatments and clients; (3) describing post-treatment outcomes and how they related to differences in treatments and clients; and (4) describing important elements of long-term addiction careers.

The DARP data system contained records on almost 44,000 admissions to fifty-two federally supported treatment agencies from 1969 to 1973—the years during which...