HEROIN "CURE" SHOWS PROMISE

THE South Australian trial of the drug naltrexone - the rapid
withdrawal antidote for heroin addicts - has passed its first test.

The trial's initial results were "encouraging", the director of
clinical policy and research at the Drug and Alcohol Services Council,
Dr Robert Ali, said.

Known as the "eight-hour heroin cure", naltrexone closes down the
receptors in the brain that promote heroin craving.

For the purposes of the trial program, seven addicts were detoxified
under anaesthetic in a few hours. A further seven, were given
conventional - three to five-day - detoxification at an Adelaide clinic.

Dr Ali said that while he did not yet want to go into figures the
results were encouraging enough for the trials to continue.

He said 100 addicts were now required - 50 for conventional treatment
and 50 for detoxification under anaesthetic. All of them would be
given a daily dose of naltrexone for at least a year.

Few thorough trials or naltrexone have been conducted anywhere in the
world and, where they have taken place, the trials have been marred by
a high drop-out rate among street heroin addicts.

As few as 4 per cent of the patients get through the opiate
detoxification stage, pass a naltrexone challenge and continue to take
the drug for six months.

Dr Ali said the problem now was to find enough volunteers for the
trial among the State's 5000 dependent heroin users - of whom 1800 are
already on methadone.

Two people had already registered but, with the conventional
withdrawal treatment taking up to five days - and dependent on bed
availability - it would take up to a year to recruit enough addicts
for the trial, Dr Ali said.

Studies have shown one of the problems faced in getting enough addicts
to enter a naltrexone trial is that it is considered a "neutral" drug
- - meaning addicts do not get the, rush - or high - they did from methadone.

A lot of addicts have dropped out early and went back to
methadone.

Studies have shown that patients with the greatest material and
psychological assets tend to have the best results with naltrexone.

Patients with a history of recent employment, and a good educational
background, are thought to be better suited to naltrexone. Many of
them preferred it to methadone as it did not tie them to regular
clinic visits.

But even patients who drop out of naltrexone trials early show
improvement. Trials in the United States showed 30 per cent to 40 per
cent of those who took naltrexone for just three months were still
opiate-free six months after stopping treatment.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry