Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University (CASA) was established in 1992 by Joseph A. Califano, Jr. The stated official goals of the organization are:


 * Inform Americans of the economic and social costs of substance abuse and its impact on their lives.
 * Assess what works in prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.
 * Encourage every individual and institution to take responsibility to combat substance abuse and addiction.
 * Provide those on the front lines with the tools they need to succeed.
 * Remove the stigma of abuse and replace shame and despair with hope.

CASA was established with more than $2 million from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, more than $5 million from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Rockefeller Foundation, and an initial $8 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which shortly thereafter later gave over $13 million more. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation continues to provide the “primary core funding.“ In its first ten years, CASA raised over $150 million. Its total assets are now over $71,000,000 and it owns over $40,000,000 in stocks, bonds and other investments.

The organization has about 75 employees who work in three divisions (1) Health and Treatment, (2) Policy Research and Analysis, and (3) Program Demonstration. It has produced over 60 reports on subject of its interest.

Controversies
Sociology professor David J. Hanson has criticized CASA reports as being politically or ideologically motivated as CASA has refused to submit its reports to peer review and contain erroneous and misleading statistics. It should be noted that Hanson's website was funded with an unrestricted grant by The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS)