A vaccine for drug addiction is in the works

neversickanymore

neversickanymore

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A VACCINE FOR DRUG ADDICTION IS IN THE WORKS
FEBRUARY 14, 2016
By Danielle Prieur


Treating drug addiction with a vaccine might become a solution to combat prescription drug and heroin addiction and the rapid rise in overdose deaths.

A vaccine, which has undergone tests in animal subjects so far, holds promise, said Dr. William Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The vaccine would “produce an antibody response which would latch onto the drug of use…and because they’re large molecules they will not be able to cross the blood-brain barrier.”

Compton focused on the prescription drug and heroin addiction epidemic at a panel on the “Neuroscience Clues to the Chemistry of Mood Disorders and Addictions” on Saturday. He said the vaccine might be our best solution, speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington D.C.

He estimated there are 200 million prescriptions written for opioids a year in the United States. Usually prescribed for pain, many remain unused and get in the hands of family and friends.

As prescription drugs are chemically similar to heroin, if a patient becomes addicted to prescription drugs, heroin is a logical next step on the journey to addiction. In 2014, more than 50,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, including 19,000 who died of prescription drug overdoses and 10,000 who died of heroin overdose. The remaining overdoses were due to other commonly abused drugs.

continued http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/a-vaccine-for-drug-addiction-is-in-the-works/

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This is not a vaccine for addiction. Its creating an immune response that could prohibit a particular substance from working. I don't think this will end up working very well for many reasons.
 
Sigh... people moved on to Heroin because it's cheaper and more available, and not because it's somehow more desirable. On the contrary, I'm certain that most smack addicts would rather use pharmaceutical grade opioids of similar potency (when IV'd) such as Hydromorphone (Dilaudid), and a surprisingly large percentage of said addicts may in fact prefer the euphoric rush of Dilaudid over Heroin (believe it or not).

The fact of the matter is this: Although it may seem like it, there is little to no "gateway drug" effect going on here. The government was duly warned about this eventuality years before it became an unavoidable health (and political) issue.

But like so many other instances during which the advisement of how to respond from actual experts - who I might add backed up their recommendations with up-to-date scientifically sound empirical data - seemingly contradicted vested interests, the powers that be likely felt inconvenienced by their apparent conflict of interest, ergo, instead of doing the morally ethical thing, the correct long term decision was completely ignored and trumped over by the sheer stupidity of bureaucrats representing the DEA (e.g. the scheduling of MDMA, efforts to reschedule THC/Weed to CIII), and learning from history took a backseat once again!

And let's be clear, this health epidemic wouldn't have received so much as an inkling of empathetic support from politicians and/or the mainstream media if it hadn't affected Caucasian Americans in such high numbers. But unlike the Crack Cocaine epidemic of the 80s which affected far more African Americans than Caucasians (who were busy snorting the powdered variety of the same drug), thus, resulting in a massive crackdown as well as ridiculously high disparity between Crack and Coke, the number of whites who have succumbed to adulterated smack of varying potency has resulted in a far more productive response. But perhaps I'm just being biased, don't mind me if I am.
 
All well and good until a former addict has a car accident and their immune system makes it impossible for them to gain any pain relief from doctors.

I'd probably prefer to be a drug addict than live my life in perpetual pain.
 
^ I was thinking something similar. Monthly naltrexone injections basically accomplish the same basic function as what is described above (prevent a drug of abuse from being enjoyable, basically) but at least that's temporary. Personally I don't think there's a pharmacological solution to drug addiction...I mean, there are pharmacological remedies that will prevent certain drugs of abuse from being enjoyable, but the addict can always choose to stop taking such remedies and go back to taking their drug of abuse. Someone can ultimately simply choose to abuse another substance, too...a pharmacological solution doesn't do much to address the environmental & social factors that play into why people abuse drugs, and IMO those are just as important (if not moreso) than the genetic or pharmacological reasons.
 
Theyve been talking about this for years. Heroin, coke, meth even nicotine have work being done on vaccine development.

I am not very well versed in this subject, but from what I understand, a heroin vaccine is specific to heroin or metabolities of it, so in theory the vaccinated heroin addict in a car crash may be able to get oxycodone for pain. Of course many of these drugs are structurally similar and have the same or very similar metabolites of each other, but the vaccine against heroin may not prevent pain treatment if needed.
 
^ that's my understanding as well, but either way its flawed

Even if a person with a heroin addiction was vaccinated i would be surprised if the immune response was quick enough to immediately and fully suppress an IV injection esp if administered close to the bbb.

If it did then just switch the the latest opioid RC that will be created or just get shit faced drunk until the liver runs out.. so many flaws its silly. Wait till a company does this and then short the hell out of that stock;)
 
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Scientists Have Come Up With a 'Vaccine' Against Designer Drugs

Esther Inglis-Arkell

Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have just published the results of a study done on a special kind of vaccine in the journal Angewandte Chemie. This vaccine does not guard against a virus. Instead, it blocks the effects of synthetic designer drugs.

Fentanyl is an opioid that moves from the blood to the brain, where it binds to opiate receptors. The immediate result is pain relief, but fentanyl also increases the brain’s dopamine level, which brings on a feeling of euphoria. Fentanyl often gets mixed in with illegal drugs to increase their effects; it also increases the chances that someone will overdose and die. And because fentanyl is popular, a number of different fentanyl derivatives have sprung up around the world. The new vaccine may block them all.

The vaccine contains molecules that are structurally like fentanyl—and invites the immune system to take them down. Eventually, the body’s immune system recognizes fentanyl and its derivatives as an invader, and antibodies bind to the drug as soon as it enters the bloodstream—preventing it from getting to the brain. If fentanyl can’t get to the brain, it can’t get people high. The vaccine seems to be selective, causing the immune system to block variations on fentanyl, but not oxycodone. While that still leaves the user open to oxycodone abuse, it also gives them an option if, sometime after the vaccination, they need pain relief.

The vaccine is meant to reduce overdoses due to fentanyl derivatives by blocking the high that people get, and therefore stopping them from seeking out the drug in the first place. Naturally, this raised concerns about someone taking fentanyl, not feeling high, and taking more—which would lead to an overdose.

In this case, however, the antibodies blocking the drug from getting to the brain also prevent lethal overdoses. “To the best of our knowledge,” said Atsushi Kimishima, a co-author of the study, “our active vaccine is the first to ablate lethal doses of any drug of abuse.”

cont http://gizmodo.com/scientists-have-come-up-with-a-vaccine-against-designer-1759511728
 
So it seems we were correct NSA about the specificty of these vaccines. However, it does say the fentanyl vaccine will cover the analogues. So I wonder if say there heroin vaccine can recognize morphinans rendering all of them ineffective. I guess we must wait and see.
 
Not sure what to think of this science. This isn't the way to go about treating addiction IMO.

LOL @ a vaccine for designer drugs. What is it a one fits all pill? Fuck off with that.
 
This is a dangerous road. I agree that if it is approved it isn't long before the rise of mandatory vaccinations, or revived OD victims being given the vaccine along with the narcan. They may say they are designing them for a specific line of drugs, but the process, once completed, cant be difficult at all to apply to any other drug of abuse. IMO they MUST have an antidote/or reversible way to vaccinate before potentially vaccinating someone against their own endorphins, monoamine neurotransmitters, etc...
 
agreed. ^

this pretty much scares the shit out of me. what those fuckers will do to people on probation and parole is already pretty sickening...wait til this hits the fan.

what a brilliantly stupid idea.
 
Idk, many drug courts already give the choice of jail or Vivitrol and there are plenty of opponents to the science, cost, and morality of that. If one vaccine does get approved and does seem to work without seriously fucking up the patient, I dont see much of a difference. Ask yourself if you had the choice between prison or the vaccine, which would you choose?

I would be completely against co-administration of a vaccine with Narcan to OD victims, though. That is a travesty on many levels that I would never be a proponent of happening.
 
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