Addiction Treatment Center doctors are enthused about a new drug combination that could help cocaine addicts in their drug rehabs. Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential pharmaceutical therapy for cocaine addicts that helps curb cravings. This new remedy combines two drugs-naltrexone and buprenorphine(suboxone). Addiction Treatment Centers have used both of these drugs for alcoholics and heroin addicts, but the combination has not been used in drug rehabs for cocaine addicts. The two drugs were used simultaneously on rats that were addicted to cocaine but became less likely to use cocaine compulsively when administered the combination. Inpatient and outpatient drug rehabs and addiction treatment centers could use the drug for chronic relapsing cocaine addicts, if the FDA approves its use.
Currently, there are no FDA approved medications for treating cocaine addiction. The naltrexone/buprenorphine combination would have to be tested on humans before the FDA would approve the drugs for cocaine addiction therapy. However, the scientists at Scripps are confident that the experiment on rats shows movement in a positive direction for cocaine addiction treatment.
Professor George Koob, chair of The Scripps Research Committee released the following statement concerning the efficacy of the drug combination for cocaine therapy, "Combining drugs with multiple actions may be a useful approach that has not been utilized extensively," he said.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy issued a report in the mid 1990’s that Americans spend more money on cocaine than all other illegal drugs combined. The cocaine problem in the United States has improved somewhat over the past two decades, but it still remains a major problem that shows no signs of disappearing from the American landscape. Scientists at Scripps hope their research will help people stop using the dangerous drug by replacing it with the safe, medically supervised nalproxen/ buprenorphine combination.
