STUDY FINDS LONG-LASTING DRUG ABUSE IMPACT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cocaine or amphetamine users suffer attention and motor
skills problems for as long as a year after they've stopped using the
drugs, a longer impact than earlier thought, a study said on Monday.

The finding in the March issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry was
based on a look at 50 pairs of male twins. In each pair, one was a former
drug user and the other had not used drugs.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said tests showed
those who had abused the stimulants performed significantly worse than
nonusers on tests measuring attention and motor skills. The drug users had
been drug-free for one year when they were tested.

"These findings provide evidence of long-term residual effects of stimulant
abuse," the authors concluded.

Rosemary Toomey, the chief author, said previous studies had mostly covered
the time period from acute withdrawal to about six months and that the
longer-lasting impact was a major finding of the new report.

Previous research had documented effects associated with withdrawal from
the drugs, including deficits in memory, problems with visualizing
three-dimensional objects and concentration.

An unusual finding in the study, Toomey said in an interview, was that the
former drug users scored "significantly better" than their siblings on a
test measuring "visual vigilance" -- in this case picking out an "X" in a
series of slightly blurred letters flashed on a screen.

While the reason for that is not clear, she said, stimulant drugs are known
to improve attention disorders.