Anti-Cocaine Drug Reported

Physicians believe they may have found a drug that can dramatically reduce the craving for cocaine and that could lead to successful treatments for cocaine addiction.

A preliminary, unpublished study by psychiatrists at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis showed that carbamazepine, a drug long used to prevent seizures and treat certain forms of depression, can control cocaine cravings well enough for addicts to benefit from more traditional forms of treatment. With traditional therapy alone--withdrawal from the cocaine along with psychotherapy--more than 80% of addicts go back to using cocaine within a year after leaving treatment.

“Cocaine treatment fails because patients are trapped by craving, by a compulsion to use cocaine,” said Dr. James Halikas, co-director of the chemical dependency treatment program at the University of Minnesota and study director. “We feel that we may have found (a drug) . . . that cures or that eliminates craving.”

Many drug-abuse researchers think that cocaine, which activates the brain’s pleasure centers, is the most addictive of regularly abused drugs.