UCSF OPENS ADDICTION RESEARCH CENTER

For San Francisco, a city with one of the nation's worst drug habits, the
opening of the country's largest addiction research center offers a ray of
hope.

"San Francisco is a very appropriate spot for the center because it has the
highest per capita rate of addictive disorders in the country," said Dr.
Robert Molenka, director of the UC-San Francisco Center for the
Neurobiology of Addiction. "The center was not created because of that, but
given the new technological tools and scientific knowledge, this is a ripe
time to do this research."

At the center's inauguration luncheon Thursday, a panel of scientists and
addiction specialists explained the neurobiology of addiction to doctors
and laypersons alike, using feather dusters to illustrate biological
phenomena like synapsis, or cell-to-cell communication.

They not only explained the type of research the center would be conducting
- - from animal and human tissue experiments on the nervous system to
studying brain molecules and enzymes - but also emphasized the idea that
addiction is a disease, not a moral failing. "At its core, addiction is a
brain disease that has behavioral and social aspects embedded into it,"
said Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Drug
use changes the brain over time, which is the essence of addiction."

Addiction has been defined as a disease by the American Medical Association
since the 1970s and by the World Health Organization since 1989.

S.F. Leads In Speed Emergencies

The center was established about eight months before the San Francisco
Department of Health announcement this week that San Francisco ranks first
in methamphetamine-related hospital emergency room admissions. The City is
second in LSD and third in heroin-related cases.

San Francisco also leads the state in drug-related deaths.

"The center will not have a direct effect on the overdose statistics,
unfortunately, because what we need is treatment resources," said Greg
Hayner, chief pharmacist for the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic. "But this
stuff is always good because the field is changing so rapidly. This
research can help us in terms of treatment approaches and prevention
programs."

Although there are several universities throughout the country that study
addiction, such as Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania, only UCSF
explores the emotional and environmental factors behind substance abuse.

Genetic Studies Of Twins

Collecting clinical and DNA data from twins, Cheryl Jay, one of the
center's 19 scientists, is supervising a community-based study to determine
whether substance abusers are influenced more by genetic or environmental
factors.

The current focus of the center is to understand the basic brain mechanisms
of addiction. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the treatment of the
disease, possibly with new medication, in a few years, Molenka said.

"Because UCSF already has an existing treatment program, whatever comes
from the lab can be translated into the clinical area," said UCSF
spokeswoman Ruth Ann Richter.

But understanding the problem must comes first, said panel member Dr.
Steven Batki of San Francisco General Hospital.

"Treatment has limits in the ways that it addresses the changes that occur
in the brain," he said. "We need to focus on the medical approach to
counteract these changes."

According to the center, substance abuse results in more deaths, illnesses
and disabilities than any other preventable health condition. The combined
cost of national drug-related crimes, accidents, hospitalizations and
illnesses is estimated at $257 billion annually.

An April 1998 state health report showed The City had 20.5 drug-related
deaths per 100,000 people, or one death for every 4,901 residents.

The statewide average of eight drug deaths per 100,000 residents. The
lowest in the state was Santa Clara County, with 4.7.

In 1997, San Francisco led the state in heroin-related hospital admissions
- - with four times the state average - and ranked third in the country
behind Baltimore and Newark, New Jersey.

©1998 San Francisco Examiner Page A 4