NEWS: Sun Herald - 15/10/2006 'Ice drug trial bid to help users kick habit'

'Ice' drug trial bid to help users kick habit
Louise Hall
October 15, 2006

ADDICTS of the dangerous party drug "ice" are taking part in a world-first trial in Sydney that could help users kick their destructive habit.

Researchers are testing whether a drug normally used to treat the excessive sleep disorder narcolepsy can wean addicts off the illegal methamphetamine described as a "scourge on Australian society".

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) is conducting a clinical trial of Modafinil, a non-habit forming stimulant medication. Forty users are taking part in the 10-week trial.

Unlike heroin, there is no easily available drug to get addicts off "meth" or deal with the violent and psychotic tendencies it induces.

Ice, the crystalline form of methamphetamine, is a powerfully addictive synthetic drug that works by quickly boosting levels of dopamine, the brain chemical responsible for movement, emotion, motivation and feelings of pleasure.

But long-term abuse can impede the body's ability to produce dopamine and cause paranoic and violent rages, as well as depression and sleeplessness.

There has been a rapid rise in methamphetamine use in recent years. NDARC figures suggest there are about 37,000 regular amphetamine users in NSW aged between 15 and 49 and 28,000 are dependant on the drug.

Ice has been recognised by the Federal Government as the "nation's worst drug problem".

Parliamentary secretary for health Christopher Pyne, who is responsible for drug policy, told a newspaper last week that ice was causing more community problems than heroin.

"Ice is a scourge on Australian society," he said.

Modafinil (marketed as Modavigil in Australia) has shown great promise in treating cocaine users in US trials.

It reduces cravings and restores proper dopamine function.

James Shearer, from NDARC, said this was one of the first trials to extend modafinil to methamphetamine users.

The NRARC wants 50 more recruits. Call James Shearer on 0414 385 149.

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Sun Herald

Sorry but it won't work. They're addicted to the meth, the smoking or shooting of meth and meth alone, an oral tablet that has no rush or real properties isn't going to help a full blown ice head. They need to be trnaquilised to sleep for about a week, shipped to the desert where there's no meth for miles and need a job or somethingb to keep their mind off the drug.

^Damn straight.

Splatt said:

Sorry but it won't work. They're addicted to the meth, the smoking or shooting of meth and meth alone, an oral tablet that has no rush or real properties isn't going to help a full blown ice head.

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I don't know. You could always crush up the tabs and do lines . You know...make it fun

^LOL! I take modafil wheneva I need to study heaps without any break, they work well - in-fact I'm on one now . Comming off meth on the other hand.. the stuff doesn't even make you feel "high" you just don't feel sleepy. A meth addict would have to take like 1gm of the stuff a day to get anywhere near the rush of meth - normal dose 200mg

no high? says who

Sleep medicine 'can help ice addicts quit'

Sleep medicine 'can help ice addicts quit'

By Michael Turtle

Posted Sat Dec 1, 2007 1:44pm AEDT
plastic packet containing the banned drug ice

The latest figures show that there are as many as 70,000 ice users in Australia (File photo). (AFP)

* Audio: Narcolepsy meds may rehab 'ice' users (AM)

Australian researchers say they have discovered a way to rehabilitate people addicted to the drug 'ice'.

In what they call a world first, researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre say they have discovered that Modafinil, a medication currently used to treat sleep disorders, can help ice addicts quit.

The discovery of Modafinil's potential for fighting ice addiction comes after much media attention on what some experts say is an ice epidemic.

The latest national figures show that as many as 70,000 people use ice - otherwise known as crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride.

Researcher James Shearer explains how ice affects the brain.

"What ice, or crystal, does is it actually hooks into your reward system in the brain, and the reward system is designed so that you can recognise positive stimuli, remember them, act on them," he said.

"But by overdoing it, by chronic use, you end up with a depletion of these neurotransmitters."

He says Modafinil is normally used to treat sleeping problems like narcolepsy or shift work sleep disorder, and acts on the same parts of the brain as ice does.

"Modafinil actually works in those parts of the brain to kind of restore areas of those neurotransmitters," he said.

"So that's what we think kind of reinforces the addiction in people, because they've got this neurotransmitter imbalance, as soon as they stop using ice, or crystal, they go into withdrawal.

"So what we're hoping, by using Modafinil, is that they will be able to resist those kind of relapse situations."

What this means is that Modafinil does not necessarily stop someone wanting to use ice, but will help people who want to stop using it.

"As with all dependence - whether it's tobacco, alcohol, anything - you do need the person themselves to be quite committed to making changes, because otherwise these drugs don't work at all," he said.

"So it's really a supportive drug for someone who's making an effort to quit."

Mr Shearer says the finding is ground-breaking.

"This drug has been tested in the [United] States with cocaine, with very good results," he said.

"What we've found in this study is we've exactly replicated those results from the US, because cocaine, methamphetamine, they're all stimulants and they actually do work in the same way in the brain."

"So we're all very excited and, frankly, relieved that we've actually found a drug which helps."

The researchers now plan to do a larger study to confirm their results.

If Modafinil begins to be used in the general community, it could be prescribed by doctors, rather than drug clinics. That's because, unlike something like methadone, it would not be classed as a drug of addiction.

From abc on line 3 12 07

First off Modafinil is a weak satimulant. A redbull does more but doesnt last as long.. how if Modafinil vonsidered a sleep medication unless the addicts have ADD/ADHD?

NEW TREATMENT FOR ICE USERS
WORLD FIRST STUDY RESULTS
- EMBARGOED UNTIL 1AM SATURDAY 1 DECEMBER 2007 -
A new treatment for methamphetamine or ‘ice’ has been found to assist users to dramatically reduce their drug use, a study released yesterday has found.
The first results from an Australian drug trial for methamphetamine or “ice” users funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing were presented yesterday at the World Psychiatric Association Congress in Melbourne.

Mr James Shearer, a PhD student from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW conducted the study.
“The drug, known as modafinil, restores levels of neurotransmitters or chemicals in the brain that may be depleted after heavy or long term methamphetamine use,” said Mr Shearer. “It’s already available in Australia for sleep problems such as narcolepsy, shift workers’ syndrome and sleep apnoea related fatigue.”

Studies in the United States have shown modafinil to be safe and effective in cocaine users. Modafinil is presently in larger scale studies to definitively establish its value in treating cocaine addiction in the US.

This Australian study set a world first by testing modafinil against a placebo in 80 dependent methamphetamine users in Sydney. Patients either took modafinil each day over a 10 week treatment program or a placebo or dummy drug under double blind conditions (i.e. neither the doctors nor the patients knew which drug they were taking).

Those who received modafinil cut their methamphetamine use by more than half which was significantly better than those who received the placebo. Importantly, modafinil appeared to be safe with no serious side effects and non-addictive. Because modafinil is not soluble in water and is destroyed at high temperatures, it cannot be injected or smoked, and may not need to be dispensed under supervision.

“Modafinil is the first medication to show a demonstrable positive effect in heavy methamphetamine users and represents a major medical breakthrough achieved in Australia,” said Mr Shearer.

“With the range of problems currently being experienced in Australia due to the use of methamphetamine, modafinil could prove to be an invaluable treatment.”

“The researchers at NDARC, the Kirketon Road Centre facility of Sydney Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital Drug and Alcohol Service in Sydney, hope that these positive results lead to continuing Federal Government support for larger clinical trials of modafinil.”

ends
Contact Details: Paul Dillon, tel. 9385 0226 or 0419 402 099, email [email protected] Date Issued: November 30 2007

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Looks promising...

Splatt said:

First off Modafinil is a weak satimulant. A redbull does more but doesnt last as long.. how if Modafinil vonsidered a sleep medication unless the addicts have ADD/ADHD?

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modafinil is used to treat narcolepsy. narcolepsy is when you fall asleep in the middle ofZZZZzzzzzzzzz. therefore, modafinil is used to treat a sleep disorder, not by putting you to sleep, but by stopping you from falling alseep.

i find modafinil quite strong, while i find red bull to do next to nothing. until i have 3 of them. everyone reacts differently to drugs splatt, you should know that by now.


i find it really odd that the medico's only just figured out that they should try substitution... esp. substituting amphetamine for methamphetamine. who woulda thunk it ?

Modafinil isn't a weak stimulant at all. It may not get you tweaked body wise, but it certainly gets your brain firing at 1000mph.
It's much more subtle because of the lack of cns stimulus.
My girlfriend got some last friday because of cfs, and it's done her wonders.
She compared it's mental effects to methamphetamine, without the horrible body buzz.

^Glad to hear things are looking up for her mate

Splatt said:

First off Modafinil is a weak satimulant. A redbull does more but doesnt last as long.. how if Modafinil vonsidered a sleep medication unless the addicts have ADD/ADHD?

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Not everyone needs to be tweaked out to be getting something from a drug. The effects are far more subtle and shouldn't be compared to stimulants like meth.

"Pharmacodynamics. The precise mechanism(s) through which modafinil promotes wakefulness is unknown. Modafinil has wake promoting actions but a pharmacological profile that is distinct from sympathomimetic amines, which increase wakefulness by other mechanisms.

Modafinil does not bind to most of the potentially relevant receptors for sleep/ wake regulation, including those for noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, adenosine, histamine-3 and benzodiazepines. Modafinil is not a direct or indirect acting dopamine receptor agonist and is inactive in several in vivo preclinical models capable of detecting enhanced dopaminergic activity. In vitro, modafinil binds to the dopamine reuptake site with low affinity and causes an increase in extracellular dopamine, but no increase in dopamine release. Modafinil does not appear to be a direct or indirect alpha1-adrenergic agonist. Although modafinil induced wakefulness can be attenuated by the alpha1-adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin, modafinil has no activity in assay systems known to be responsive to the alpha-adrenergic agonists.

In rats, the wakefulness induced by amphetamine, but not modafinil, was antagonised by the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol. In cats, modafinil evoked neuronal activation in brain regions different from methylphenidate and amphetamine. Modafinil served as a positive reinforcer for cocaine in monkeys and was partially discriminated as stimulant-like in rats (see Precautions, Dependence potential).

The optical enantiomers of modafinil have similar pharmacological actions in mice, but have not been studied individually in humans. The two major metabolites of modafinil, modafinil acid and modafinil sulfone, showed little CNS activating activity in animal studies.

Modafinil in humans restores and/or improves the level of wakefulness. Changes are found in electrophysiological parameters reflecting alertness (ratio of power of alpha rhythm to power of theta rhythm), starting from a dose of 100 mg in the morning. An increase is seen in latency periods in the multiple sleep latency test, starting from 200 mg in the morning. Modafinil opposes the impairment of cognitive (in particular memory), psychomotor and neurosensory performance induced by sleep deprivation. This activity is observed in the absence of any modifications of appetite or behaviour.

Morning administration of 200 mg does not appear to affect nocturnal sleep. Administration of 100 mg morning and noon may prolong the subjective time taken to fall asleep. Evening administration may disturb sleep. This pharmacodynamic activity does not appear to affect the autonomic nervous system." - MIMS online

hoptis said:

Not everyone needs to be tweaked out to be getting something from a drug. The effects are far more subtle and shouldn't be compared to stimulants like meth.

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I use MDPV for every time I work.
It's not strong but it gets me going. I end up redosing a lot though which requires alcohol and benzos later on to sleep. But it is not a meth like drug.

Whats the bigger doses of this like, where you can actuually feel something unlike "placebos" like piracetam and the totally useless Methylhexaneamine. Something that isnt just mental pushyness, something that gets you doing physically active tasks.

I could see mysellf using Modafinil a once off dose for a days work instead of having to re-dose MDPV at work which you can imagine is a little hard (always got a pocket of benzos with me though).. MDPV doessome weird body stuff later on, makes your face and muscles and posture warp a bit and some mania comes out.

Is it still legal to import or a prescription only?

Thanks Mr Samadhi! It's been such a blessing, and it's awesome to see her chipper and functional


Your body will still feel tired, but you will be much more alert. The gf got tweaky from an initial 200mg dose, the doctor doesn't know what dose to give her so he said just play around until she finds the sweet spot.
She's been on methylhexaneamine as well, and that was pretty useless to her as well.
We've been in touch with the TGA concerning importing Adrafinil as her doctor said to look into it as it's much cheaper to import than the price of Modafinil here.

Dear rm2x's girlfriend,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding importation of medications for your personal use. I am from the Drug Safety and Evaluation Branch of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The Drug Safety and Evaluation Branch is responsible for prescription medicines. In response to your enquiry, I offer you the following information.

Australian residents and visitors to Australia can legally import certain therapeutic goods for personal use under the personal import exemption which exists under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 and its associated regulations. This exemption does not allow the personal importation of either substances or drugs prohibited by Customs legislation, or, injectable drugs that contain material of human or animal origin (except insulin), unless an import permit has been obtained prior to their import.

Modafinil and Adrafinil do not appear in the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 and so will not require an import permit. Please note that it is illegal to supply goods imported under the personal import scheme exemption to persons outside the importer's immediate family. Under the personal import scheme exemption, you may import three months supply per import and, no more than fifteen months supply per twelve-month period. I reiterate that an individual may bring no more than a three month supply at a time. Three months supply is worked out as the manufacturer's recommended maximum daily dose of the product multiplied by 90 days.

Please note further that the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons (SUSDP) place modafinil into Schedule 4 (ie prescription medicine). This means that you will need to ensure that included in the package when it is sent to you, along with the medication, is either a copy of the prescription or a letter from your Australian-registered doctor which demonstrates clearly that this product has been prescribed to you . Otherwise, the Australian Customs Service may be obliged to seize the goods. The Australian prescription is required as any prescription product entering Australia for use by a resident or visitor legally requires an Australian script to obtain and posses.

As adrafinil is closely related to modafinil (which is a prescription medicine), it is also advisable to include either a copy of a letter or prescription from an Australian doctor to demonstrate that this medication is prescribed to you in the package along with the medication when it is sent, to prevent you having any difficulty passing this product through Customs.

If you require further information on this subject, may I direct you to our website. There is a TGA publication on personal importation which can be found at the following link:

http://www.tga.gov.au/docs/html/bringmed/persimp.htm

I trust this information is of assistance to you.

Regards,

Dr Helen Hughes
Senior Professional Officer
Experimental Drugs Section
Therapeutic Goods Administration

ph +61 2 6232 8125
fax +61 2 6232 8112

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ASomeone mentioned in the legal drug thread that methylhexaneamine was potent. After a mate testing a gram, and finding nothing happening at al.l after points of it, even tried smoking it, he branded it useless. No buzz or anything. Weird how body building sites say its very potent and they either sell in in caps or if in powder they say buy expensive scales please! etc.

I found it to be quite potent. But I don't shoot ice every waking minute of the day.
If you're looking for a buzz, which is what seems to be your case then don't bother with Modafinil. It's costly.
Perhaps try phenylpiracetam.
Anwyho this has gone way off topic.

potent body wise though?

I dont want to shoot ice. I don't want speed or meth either. I just want something that works you don't come down off when doing a day of physical work.

You've asked this before Splatt.

hoptis said:

Splatt said:

Can it be injected if one were to come across the pure powder?

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I'm not quite sure what the point would be, most user experiences do not report any sort of significant euphoria like other stimulants, most user experiences I've read haven't reported any significant increase in effects above a 200 mg dose and many of those who have tried to take up to 400 mg and above have reported nasty headaches.

I'm happy to be proved wrong on this but I don't think there is much, if any, recreational value in it.

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It affects your cognitive function, it doesn't give you any physical boost. If you miss a nights sleep and take Modafinil, it can give you the alertness to get through the day you might not otherwise have but your body and muscles will still feel tired as if you'd missed a nights sleep.

Some related threads in this forum.

Modafinil Discussion
Modafinil, new alert/smart drug, how long will it be legal?
NEWS: The Age - 9/05/2006 'Anti-sleep drug use on the rise'
Legality of importing prescription / other drugs into Australia? (eg Modafinil)