cannabisnews.com: Fighting Cocaine with Marijuana Fighting Cocaine with Marijuana Posted by FoM on October 06, 2001 at 07:35:46 PT Press Release from Nature Medicine Source: Nature Medicine If a cocaine addict can be persuaded to enter a treatment program, he or she could be placed on a regime of methadone replacement as a substitute for cocaine. However, relapse amongst addicts is common and much research is currently dedicated to finding ways to prevent relapse.In the October issue of Nature Medicine, scientists at Vrije University in The Netherlands report that a treatment for cocaine relapse may come from a surprising source-marijuana. The brain contains two receptors for cannabinoid molecules, and naturally occurring chemicals that act on these receptors (endocannabinoids) have been linked to the phenomenon of cocaine addiction. Using a rat model of addiction, Taco De Vries and colleagues found that the compound HU210 which stimulates cannabinoid receptors, caused rats to relapse whereas SR141716A, which blocks cannabinoid receptors, decreased the tendency to relapse.These data reveal an important link between the cocaine and the cannabinoid systems in the brain and suggest that the use of compounds that interact with cannabinoid receptors-such as marijuana-may be useful in treating cocaine addiction.Daniele Piomelli of the University of California, Irvine, explains the findings in an accompanying News & Views article and writes, "As with other chronic diseases, it is reasonable to expect that treatment of drug craving and relapse will involve the use of more than one drug."Source: Nature MedicinePublished: October 2001Copyright: Nature Publishing Group 2001E-mail: medicine natureny.comWebsite: http://www.nature.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMarijuana, Cocaine Share Brain Targetshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11032.shtmlMarijuana Could Help Cocaine Addicts Kick Habit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11031.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by dddd on October 07, 2001 at 23:12:34 PT Yes,,,I agree ..with you Cannabis Dave,,,you could still get drugs in prison,,,butt I hate to think of how one would pay for them.....none the less,,,incarceration will usually end a drug habit,,,and I didnt mean to say that I recommend it,or advocate locking people up as a "treatment"............. .... .As to the "religion" treatment/cure,, I think that we agree......Lookinside said >"..this feeling of oneness with the universe very often removes the desire for drugs and alcohol...they no longer want to cut themselves off from this feeling...they learn to cope with life knowing that a "higher power" is available to help... some do find this higher power in churches...but others find it in life... "May JAH be with you....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on October 07, 2001 at 10:12:59 PT Cannabis Dave I think that a person will quit doing drugs for reasons that are their own. I think a person can quit doing drugs or alcohol and never go back to using if they have found a reason in themselves to stay clean and sober. Some people will lean on a Higher Power and others will find the way that works for them. I think Cannabis is a wonderful medicinal herb to help people off of hard drugs or alcohol too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by lookinside on October 07, 2001 at 10:05:11 PT: Cannabis Dave... i can't disagree with anything you said...most groups have a strong religious influence...AA was founded in a time when a christian upbringing was nearly universal in the U.S....it was unusual for an american not to go to church regularly....the phrase that tells me why your feelings are as they are is: "As someone who had 12-step programs forced down my throat many years ago," that says it all...if you aren't seeking it, no one can force you to "get it"...i'm not a joiner either...i quit going to meetings after about a year(sober 8+ years now)...i still do 12 step work as opportunity presents itself..."whatever works"....exactly! AA works because people are exposed to others with similar problems and experiences...being forced to go to meetings is self defeating...if you resent being sent, you CAN'T hear what those folks are saying...willingness is the key...long after my sobriety date, i was court ordered to attend AA and NA meetings due to my cultivation arrest...i know how that felt...i didn't have much to share...i was enraged...i haven't gone back since... [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Cannabis Dave on October 07, 2001 at 09:39:45 PT For "lookinside" I hope you don't mind me butting in...As someone who had 12-step programs forced down my throat many years ago, I have this opinion:Aren't 12-step programs a bit LIKE organised religion? They give you "rules" to live your live by, and you meet regularly with a like-minded group of people - just like at church, temple, mosque, whatever. And despite the claim that 12-step programs aren't religious, they definetly were "christian oriented where I came from. "Higher Power" translated into "Jesus Christ" most of the time, and I found that highly offensive. Even without that aspect, 12-step programs seem to fullfill a function much like organised religion. That's just my opinion...I guess that I'm not a joiner. Remember what Bob Dylan said: "don't follow leaders and watch your parking meters"... The bottom line is - whatever works. Addiction will kill you, so if it takes 12-step programs to do it - then go for it! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Cannabis Dave on October 07, 2001 at 09:28:49 PT Cannabis is an effective treatment for cocaine. I forgot to add my two-cents about cannabis - I just medicated, so perhaps that's the reason I forgot (lol!)? I've seen MANY cocaine abusers stop using coke by substituting pot, and they've often commented that the pot kept them from using coke. We use methadone to treat heroin addiction, so why not use cannabis for an addiction treatment too? Cannabis has less negative side-effects than methadone, and it can help people get off of methadone. Methadone isn't a treatment for cocaine abuse but cannabis is, and now the research community is starting to uncover the scientific reasons for that. Cannabis is an effective treatment for opioid addiction, alcoholism, AND cocaine. Maybe someday we will use methadone as the first stage addiction drug treatment, and then transfer the patients to cannabis? That seems a logical - it works for ME! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by lookinside on October 07, 2001 at 09:06:45 PT: dddd... i'm a recovering addict...my drug of choice was bacardi rum...i finally reached the point where i was drinking in hopes of dying instead of enjoying my drinks in the evening...my wonderful wife put her foot down after watching me slide toward self destruction for years...i went to AA...you mention religion as a possible aid...i beg to differ..AA's talk about having a "spiritual experience"...this has little connection to religion...as an addict's head clears, guilt and remorse raise their ugly heads...during this period of self assessment, many addicts come to believe that they are not alone in the universe...they discover a feeling of connectedness which is new to them...this feeling of oneness with the universe very often removes the desire for drugs and alcohol...they no longer want to cut themselves off from this feeling...they learn to cope with life knowing that a "higher power" is available to help...some do find this higher power in churches...but others find it in life...(there is much i have not said...i didn't start writing this to sell 12 step programs...) [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Cannabis Dave on October 07, 2001 at 09:04:15 PT Methadone is NOT a treatment for cocaine !!!!!!! Methadone treatment for addiction to opioids can be very effective, and it can help with alcoholism too, but study after study shows that methadone treatment actually INCREASES the use of cocaine. I don't know of any treatment program for cocaine that uses methadone - please direct me to it if I'm wrong. They did a blind study where they gave some of the subjects methadone, and those subjects who got methadone rated the pleasure they got from cocaine higher than the control group. In other words, being on methadone makes using cocaine more pleasurable, and therefore leads to increased abuse. That probably is the primary factor leading to increased cocaine usage in methadone patients, along with them missing their heroin rush. Addressing one the "effective remedy" comment here: if you think drugs aren't available in jail/prison, then you are WRONG. The fact that we can't even keep drugs out of our prisons is a good argument against the war on drugs - it is futile. As long as there is a demand for drugs, there will be those who will supply the drugs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by dddd on October 06, 2001 at 23:09:33 PT Effective remedies ....JAIL,,,is an effective remedy for dam near any addiction...If you lockdown even the most chronic of drug abusers,or users,,, yes,they will stop doing the drug the are addicted to,,and in the same way,if you supply an addicted person with an alternative,,yes,they will appear to lose interest in their original jones,,but in both cases,when you let them out of their cell,or you release the "cured",drugged out drug therapy patient, they are going to be faced with the same world they left before they sought treatment,or got busted....In my opinion,,religion is the most promising cure for drug addiction,,,but misguided "religion",can be at least as dangerous as the drug that was the problem in the first place...................So once again,,,It seems like I have said alot,,,,,,,,but left myself,and anyone else dangling........Oh well,,,,at least I said something?......dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on October 06, 2001 at 17:57:05 PT It's probably carcinogenic and neurotoxic Have they tested this stuff? If it blocks cannabinoid receptors, then it must block many if not all of the good natural functions of endocannabinoids as well.That means it probabaly increases rather than decreases inflammation in the brain and it encourages rather than suppresses the proliferation of cancer cells in the organs.It should also cause a lack of appetite and sleeplessness, especially inteference in the deep delta wave phase of sleep where the body repairs microdamage done to muscles and tissue during the waking hours..It probably increases the startle response, and probabaly produces a sense of general anxiety. (Animal tests certainly indicate this.)At what point does the cure become worse than the disease?These so-called scienece reporters have descended to the rewriting of press releases. Woe be to us when even a science reporter is incapable of searching Medline.Well forget searching Medline -- have they considered searching their own archives? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by CorvallisEric on October 06, 2001 at 15:44:50 PT methadone for cocaine? "methadone replacement as a substitute for cocaine" Really? Anyone ever hear of this? My quick search only found cocaine mentioned as a complicating factor in methadone maintenance of heroin addicts. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment