"I tried without success to explain this idea, reaching further and further for an appropriate image, but to no avail. I finally said, 'The most dangerous thing about marijuana would be if a bale of it fell on you.' This particular quote appeared the next day in The Washington Post. This was in the days of 'Just Say No,' and for a while I feared for my job. The upside, I guess, was that the entire scientific staff of the NIDA extramural program got media training."

With persistent practice, Friedman says, he has been able to explain and discuss science with scores of journalists in the years since then. "It's a learnable skill."

Friedman is now the director of the Addiction Studies Program for Journalists at the School of Medicine. The program has taught more than 300 journalists about the neurobiology of drug addiction. A related program has begun for state officials and legislators, who make policy and funding decisions about drugs and related social issues.

In his commentary, Friedman encourages his fellow scientists who have not already done so to practice public outreach for the additional reward it can give them. "Although I love doing science," he says, "the civic part of my scientific career has been remarkably rewarding as well.

"It's a different kind of work, but it's a commitment we all must be willing to undertake if we are to have the impact on society that our training, scientific expertise and knowledge make possible for us."

Media Contacts: Mark Wright, (336) 716-3382, ; Bonnie Davis, or Shannon Koontz, , (336) 716-4587.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (www.wfubmc.edu) is an academic health system comprised of Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university's School of Medicine, Wake Forest University Physicians and North Carolina Baptist Hospital. The School of Medicine ranks 35th in primary care and 42nd in research among the nation's 145 medical and osteopathic schools in "America's Best Graduate Schools" from U.S. News & World Report. Wake Forest's physician assistant program is ranked 23rd, and its joint program with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to train nurse anesthetists is tied for 11th place. The volume Best Doctors in America includes 181 of the Wake Forest medical school faculty, and Wake Forest Baptist is ranked 32nd in the nation by America's Top Doctors for the number of physicians in that listing. The Medical Center has been ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report since 1993.