Although there is general consensus that altered brain structure and function underpins addictive disorders, clinicians working in addiction treatment rarely incorporate neuroscienceinformed approaches into their practice. We recently launched the Neuroscience Interest Group within the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM-NIG) to promote initiatives to bridge this gap. This article summarizes the ISAM-NIG key priorities and strategies to achieve implementation of addiction neuroscience knowledge and tools for the assessment and treatment of substance use disorders. We cover two assessment areas: cognitive assessment and neuroimaging, and two interventional areas: cognitive training/remediation and neuromodulation, where we identify key challenges and proposed solutions. We reason

Backgrounds and aims Iran has 2.1 and 1.8% of its 15–64‐year‐old population living with illicit substance and opioid use disorders, respectively. To address these problems, Iran has been developing a large and multi‐modality addiction treatment system, spanning the time before and after the Islamic Revolution. Methods Iran's current drug treatment scene is a combination of services, ranging from medical/harm reduction services to punitive/criminal justice programs. Included in this array of services are drop‐in centers providing low‐threshold harm reduction services, such as distribution of sterile needles and syringes; opioid maintenance treatment clinics providing methadone, buprenorphine and opium tincture; and abstinence‐based residential centers. We will review the evolution of this system in four phases. Results In 1980, Iran's revolutionary government shut down all voluntary treatment programs and replaced them with residential correctional programs. The first shift in the addiction treatment policies came 15 years later after facing the negative consequences. Addiction is viewed as a disease, and new voluntary treatment centers offering non‐agonist medications and psychosocial services were established. With an increased number of people who inject drugs and HIV/AIDS epidemics, in the second shift an extensive move towards harm reduction strategies and opioid‐maintenance programs has been implemented to reduce HIV‐related high‐risk behavior. The emergence of a methamphetamine use crisis creating an increased number of socially marginalized addicted people resulted in public and political demands for stricter policies and ended in the third shift starting in 2010, with extended compulsory court‐based residential programs. Currently, there is a new shift towards reducing the severity of criminal penalties for drug use/sales and promoting proposals for opium legalization. Conclusion Iran's evolutionary experience in developing a large addiction treatment program in a complex combination of medical/harm reduction and punitive/criminal justice addiction treatment can be examined in its political, clinical and pragmatic context.

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