In 1989, Maryland’s Governor realized that the State had no reliable information about drug use among its citizens or about the effectiveness of drug and alcohol programs supported by taxpayer funds. "Nowhere in Maryland does the vast amount of disparate drug and alcohol-related information come together for analysis and distribution", noted the Maryland Drug and Alcohol Abuse Control Plan of 1989. Therefore, the Governor’s Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission recommended the creation of the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), now called Center for Substance Use, Addiction & Health Research. CESAR is a premier multi-disciplinary research center at the University of Maryland, College Park. For more than three decades, CESAR has conducted timely and practical research and monitored shifts in the use and availability of drugs such as heroin, ecstasy, fentanyl, methamphetamine, prescription opioids, synthetic cannabinoids, and other synthetic drugs.

CESAR began its first studies of the State’s drug and alcohol problems in 1990. Since that time, it has grown into a leading research center with partnerships and collaborations with many federal, state, and local agencies across the country. In Maryland, CESAR has served as a research and training center to support the initiatives of numerous state agencies by providing advice and guidance on both when and how to launch targeted initiatives. CESAR has worked with state agencies and universities to prepare grant applications that have brought millions of dollars to Maryland to support state and local initiatives. CESAR staff’s cutting-edge research and epidemiological projects have made Maryland a national leader in identifying and responding to emerging drug use trends, including heroin in the late 1990s, ecstasy and other club drugs in the early 2000s, and new psychoactive substances and methamphetamine in the 2010s. We adapted the skills and tools developed in Maryland to address emerging drug trends nationwide by creating and launching the NIH NIDA-funded National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) in 2014 and the ONDCP-funded Emergency Department Drug Surveillance (EDDS) program in 2017. 

In 2023, the CESAR team elected to rename the center the “Center for Substance Use, Addiction & Health Research” to support the movement towards a more public health-oriented approach to treating and supporting people with substance use disorder. CESAR staff look forward to expanding our collaborations with the health sciences and to successfully launching new projects such as the first statewide EDDS program in Maryland and the DOL WORC-funded Mountain Maryland Forward program, a recovery-to-work program in Western Maryland. We will continue to advance the dissemination of information and services for rural and other under-served communities.

The objective research, practical products, and innovative technologies developed by CESAR staff have successfully informed policy makers, practitioners, and the public about substance abuse—its nature and extent, prevention and treatment, and relation to other problems. The research and training CESAR provides undergraduate and graduate students helps define the future of drug research, policies, and practices and has consistently guided the development and evaluation of effective drug prevention and treatment programs in Maryland and the United States.