ALCOHOL HOPE IN HEROIN DRUG

A controversial and unregistered drug to treat heroin addicts is set to
revolutionise the fight against alcoholism in Australia, according to the
head of Royal North Shore Hospital's addiction unit.

Speaking at the Alcoholics Anonymous national convention in Perth at the
weekend, Dr Stephen Jurd said he had placed his first patient on the
Naltrexone program four weeks ago.

The patient, a 40-year-old businessman, was responding well to the drug -
which decreases the craving for alcohol by blocking specific opiate
receptors in the brain.

"I think this changes everything because this will be the first time we
will have a drug that is non-toxic and a drug that alters the course of
alcohol dependence," Dr Jurd said.

Doctors are divided on the effectiveness of Naltrexone in treating heroin
addiction.

One Perth doctor, frustrated by a lack of government support for the drug,
is funding a heroin detoxification program out of his own pocket.

Dr Jurd admitted the results for heroin had been patchy. But Naltrexone had
been shown to effectively repress the urge for alcohol, with 90 per cent of
people successfully completinga three-to six-month course ofdaily tablets.

But he said red tape was hampering the drug's use in treating alcoholism.

At present, Naltrexone can only be prescribed if a patient's life is at
risk without it.

"As far as medical practice is concerned, this is a good drug. It is just
there is a major bureaucratic hang-up," Dr Jurd said.

But a drug company was pushing to have Naltrexone taken off the
unregistered or "orphan" list of drugs.

The Federal Government is expected to grant approval for the drug's general
use later this year.

Alcoholics Anonymous's national chairman, Dr David Nelson, yesterday backed
the use of Naltrexone, saying he believed it would be a breakthrough in the
fight against alcoholism.

"It has already been a breakthrough in 34 countries outside Australia and
we are about to get it here," Dr Nelson said.

"Naltrexone suppresses the urge to drink and gives alcoholics a chance to
relearn how to live, how to have relationships and to trust people.

"These are the things people tend to lose when the drugs and alcohol take
over."