COCAINE WEANING DRUG CREATED

Scientists have developed a drug which may help addicts wean themselves off
cocaine in the same way methadone helps heroin addicts.

Nocaine has been developed by US researchers.

Tests on animals showed it provided some of cocaine's effects, but at a much
lower level.

Researchers at Washington DC's Georgetown University Medical Center's Drug
Discovery Program say it appears to blunt the effects of withdrawal.

Experts warn cocaine use can cause heart problems, chest pain and
respiratory failure; strokes, seizure, and headaches; and abdominal pain and
nausea,

Less toxic

In their study, the US researchers found that animals worked harder to get
doses of Nocaine than to receive a saline solution, but less hard than they
did to obtain doses of cocaine.

They said this indicates Nocaine is a "weak reinforcer", meaning that it
provides some of cocaine's effects, but at a much lower level.

Weak reinforcers are less likely to be abused than strong reinforcers such
as heroin or cocaine, and therefore less likely to have toxic effects on the
body.

Other studies have shown it acts to reverse the effects on the brain
associated with withdrawal from cocaine, and that it blocks cocaine's
stimulant effect.

Nocaine has a similar structure to the antidepressant paroxetine, although
it acts on different messenger molecules in the brain.

Alan Kozikowski, professor of neurology at the university and director of
Georgetown's Drug Discovery Program, said: "Our studies have shown that
Nocaine would likely blunt the aversive effects associated with cocaine
abstinence, enabling addicts to gradually and safely withdraw from the
drug."

Range of treatments

Roger Howard, chief executive of UK charity DrugScope, said: "We welcome the
development of any treatment which may assist crack users break their
dependence.

"It is essential however, that the development of such a drug does not
reduce the range of alternative treatment options available.

"Different forms of treatment suit different individuals, there is no
panacea to dependence."

The research will be published in the Journal of Pharmacology and
Experimental Therapeutics.