ANTI-DRUG DRUGS

Isn't a cocaine "vaccine" an exercise in futility ["Can an Antibody Gobble
Up Cocaine Cravings?" news story, Feb. 7]? Development of a drug that
renders cocaine ineffective has gobbled up millions of federal dollars that
could have been better spent.

Antabuse was developed decades ago so that people who took it couldn't
drink without getting sick. But the problem is motivation. If you want to
drink, you don't take the drug. If you want cocaine, you'll skip the
vaccine. If the vaccine is ever court-mandated, just switch to
methamphetamine.

The presumption is that cocaine is addictive, but quitting the drug does
not result in a withdrawal as with heroin addiction or alcoholism - you
just crash after staying awake for long periods. It's not a true physical
addiction. How can otherwise brilliant scientists not recognize such a
simple fact?

Victor Pawlak, Phoenix