ACUPUNCTURE MAY STOP COCAINE CRAVINGS

WASHINGTON -- The ancient Chinese therapy of acupuncture can help cocaine
addicts control their cravings when it is combined with more modern
treatments, says a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In the study of 82 addicts, one group received eight weeks of treatment in
which an acupuncturist inserted needles into four specific points on the
outer ear where stimulation is believed to have a therapeutic effect.
Another group received acupuncture to points on the ear that are not thought
to have any treatment effect. A control group watched relaxation videos.

Slightly more than half the addicts who received the specific acupuncture
tested free of cocaine in the last week of treatment, compared with 23.5% of
the other acupuncture group and 9% of the group that watched the tape.

Participants were addicted to cocaine and heroin. In addition to the
acupuncture, they received counseling and methadone for heroin addiction.
About a third of those enrolled in the study dropped out before completing
treatment.

"This is not a definitive study, but it is a well done clinical trial that
says (acupuncture) is a treatment approach that ought to be considered
seriously," says Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, which funded the study. Leshner says acupuncture should be combined
with other therapies, such as psychological counseling.

Hundreds of drug treatment centers have used acupuncture since the 1970s to
help ease withdrawal symptoms and cravings, with anecdotal reports of
success.

"These findings need to be replicated in future studies," says Arthur
Margolin, principal investigator for the study and a research scientist at
Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

Most clinical trials aimed at measuring acupuncture's effects in drug
treatment have been inconclusive.

At Lincoln Hospital Recovery Center in the Bronx, N.Y., patients can receive
acupuncture combined with counseling and attend a 12-step recovery program
such as Narcotics Anonymous, says Michael Smith, a psychiatrist who directs
the center.

Lincoln began using acupuncture in 1973, after Smith read about the
therapy's effect on drug addicts after surgery.

"Acupuncture is a real help in reducing cravings," Smith says. "It's a
valuable component within the program.