GET SERIOUS! THERE IS NO EASY WAY TO GET RID OF COCAINE ADDICTION!

THE NEW COCAINE VACCINE IS FOOL’S GOLD
 

By Mark Elliot

April 8, 2002 - Is there a magic bullet to wipe out cocaine addiction? The new cocaine vaccine trial might have you think so.

My own experience says we should not hold our breath. The vaccine manufacturers want to raise hopes and remember that their job is to sell more vaccines. Working in alcoholism and drug recovery gives me a front-line view. It’s unlikely we will see an end to the scourge of cocaine addiction anymore than we will see the end of alcoholism or any other form of addiction and abuse.

The vaccine in question is called TA-CD and is currently undergoing testing in the United States. It works by causing the body to make antibodies which attack the cocaine molecules in the blood. Normally, cocaine molecules are small enough to get through the blood-brain barrier which protects the brain from foreign substances. Antibodies attach themselves to the cocaine molecules and make them too big to get through and thereby cannot trigger dopamine production in the brain, which is associated with the high people get.

At least that’s how the vaccine works in theory. My doubts are based on experience with drugs that target addiction: Naltrexone, used to treat heroin addiction; and Antabuse (tetraethylthiuram disulfide), which is used to treat alcoholism. Both of these drugs have a place in the treatment of addictions and they can be very effective when used in conjunction with an effective all-round program of recovery. But the drugs by themselves are often next to useless.

The idea of using chemicals to fight drug dependency isn't new. Consider Naltrexone. It was first developed to overcome the effects of heroin and other opiate drugs. It came on the scene in the 1980s and when it was given to overdosing heroin users, it put them into "instant withdrawal."
An "opiate antagonist," Naltrexone actually takes the place of the heroin on the receptors in the brain that produce the drug euphoria. The reaction by some addicts to being saved from death is sometimes lacking in enthusiasm. ("You ruined my trip, man.")

Antabuse is used to enforce sobriety in some alcoholism treatment programs. When you’re on antabuse and take a drink, you shall experience severe discomfort. But I've worked with heroin addicts taking Naltrexone who cheated by smoking dope, popping ecstasy and doing cocaine. Likewise, an alcoholic on Antabuse can still smoke pot, do cocaine or any other drug to get high. Now do you really think a cocaine addict on the vaccine, TA-CD (assuming it works) is going to be cured of drug addiction?

Who is going to decide who will get the vaccine? Will TA-CD be given to schoolchildren? Is that the way cocaine addiction will disappear? If so, then what next? A pot vaccine? And what about the social realities that help shape people — cocaine vaccine or no vaccine? Also, what about the drug addicts who don’t want to stop using drugs?

As the saying goes, "What do you get when a drunken horse thief gets sober?" The answer, "A sober horse thief." Without effective all-round community treatment programs to address the underlying causes of the addiction, any medical therapy is likely doomed to a high degree of failure. An angry addict will just find another drug of abuse.

Those who think there is an easy way around addiction are either ignorant of the territory or are looking to make big bucks.