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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Scripps developing vaccine for cocaine addicts
#4015500 - 04/05/05 12:28 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Scripps scientist developing vaccine for cocaine addicts April 05, 2005 palmbeachpost.com
LA JOLLA, Calif. — One day soon, addicts may be able to vaccinate themselves against the effects of nicotine or cocaine with a simple shot.
The treatments work like vaccines for rabies or measles, producing antibodies that clear addictive drugs from the system.
Cocaine addicts suffering through painful withdrawal couldn't get high if they took the vaccine. Paramedics could carry an antidote that could stop an overdose. And smokers trying to quit could use a nasal spray that would make them unable to feel nicotine for weeks.
Kim D. Janda, a Scripps Research Institute scientist who began his career as clinical chemistry major at the University of South Florida, has spent years researching the vaccines.
The drugs that go to market aren't likely to be his versions — big drug companies or tobacco giants like Phillip Morris likely will beat him to market. But Janda knows they work.
He developed two versions of the cocaine treatment, one that works over several weeks and another that works instantly on injection. In one study, researchers gave a control group of rats a high dose of cocaine, enough to kill 60 percent of them. But when they injected the animals with Janda's vaccine, four out of five survived.
Recovering addicts have to get a shot of the longer-acting vaccine only once every few weeks, Janda said, instead of sustaining constant willpower. If a recovering cocaine addict takes a hit in a weak moment, it won't give any relief.
Families of addicts who have heard about Janda's research have come to him, asking for the vaccine. Some parents have driven long distances with their children, begging Janda to give them the shot.
But because the drugs are not approved, there is nothing Janda can do. The drug companies that bought his patents went out of business before they could prove they were safe and effective. None of Janda's vaccines has been tested on humans.
Boca Raton-based Nabi Biopharmaceuticals is racing to get the treatments approved for use. In Britain, the biotech firm Xenova already has started human trials.
Some are captivated by the idea that the drugs might protect people from becoming addicted in the first place. They wonder if a prick in the arm might one day replace the gnawing worry of parents trying to keep their teenagers away from drugs. A few government leaders in Britain and Australia even briefly considered "anti-junkie" laws that would require mandatory immunization of young children against addictive drugs.
Janda says that speculation is premature — the vaccines are intended for adults, and only work for a few weeks. They are not designed to provide lifetime protection.
With the mysteries of the cocaine and nicotine molecules nearly solved, Janda has started looking for vaccines for methamphetamine, Ecstasy and marijuana. The treatments are a valuable breakthrough, Janda said, but they aren't cures. They don't alleviate withdrawal, and they can't erase the desire to get high.
"All of these vaccines are only useful for a person who is already in therapy," he said. "They will not be helpful for people who are going down to crack houses."
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lackobreath
Cannabis Man
Registered: 01/27/05
Posts: 517
Last seen: 17 years, 10 months
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Re: Scripps developing vaccine for cocaine addicts [Re: veggie]
#4015516 - 04/05/05 12:38 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Just wait until they add that to your schools vaccinations list...
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Cloud9
I don't feel, and it feels great
Registered: 07/03/03
Posts: 1,554
Loc: between here and there
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Re: Scripps developing vaccine for cocaine addicts [Re: lackobreath]
#4015561 - 04/05/05 01:04 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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I read this awahile ago, it's pretty interesting.
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ShroomDoom
Friend of the Medicine
Registered: 06/07/04
Posts: 4,435
Loc: A Psychedelic State
Last seen: 1 year, 10 months
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Re: Scripps developing vaccine for cocaine addicts [Re: Cloud9]
#4018549 - 04/05/05 06:23 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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fascinating...
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Ravus
Not an EggshellWalker
Registered: 07/18/03
Posts: 7,991
Loc: Cave of the Patriarchs
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Re: Scripps developing vaccine for cocaine addicts [Re: veggie]
#4019148 - 04/05/05 08:52 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Thank God it's temporary; I can't imagine how much governments would abuse these "vaccines" if they lasted throughout your whole life.
Anti-Junkie laws, that's just sickening. Pretty soon we'll be putting chips in the brains of criminals to make them feel like they're burning alive everytime they think a negative thought, like in A Clockwork Orange.
Except that doesn't even apply to criminals, some governments pondered doing it to EVERYONE. If society continues on the path its following now, it may be worse than the fictional future dystopias everybody quotes.
-------------------- So long as you are praised think only that you are not yet on your own path but on that of another.
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hueristicks
Stranger
Registered: 02/17/15
Posts: 10
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Re: Scripps developing vaccine for cocaine addicts [Re: veggie]
#21379551 - 03/08/15 06:09 PM (9 years, 23 days ago) |
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Dizzam, how about a vaccine for sugar addiction? Obesity related illness kills way more folks than the yayo.
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