katmeow
Bluelight Crew
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I'm not sure how many people watch Catalyst (the ABC's science reporting program on thursday nights) but last week there was a show on research into addiction vaccines. Currently a patient trial on nicotine vaccines is underway, and vaccines for drugs such as cocaine, opiates & amphetamines are in development.
I was just wondering how people felt about the development of such vaccines.
For those who've had a problem with particular drugs would you consider a vaccine as a method of quitting? As a parent, would you want your children vaccinated against nicotine, or any other drugs? Or would you leave it up to them to make an informed decision at a later stage in their lives? How would you feel if a mandatory vaccination program was put in place at some point in the future?
The full transcript & video can be seen here.
This is just an excert on the science behind the vaccine.
Narration: The key to the vaccine is a very large version of the nicotine molecule.
Dr Ali Fattom: The idea is to take a small molecule like nicotine which is not immunogenic, can’t be a vaccine on it’s own and try to create it chemically in a way and put it and introduce it into the body in a way that the body will recognise it as part of a big molecule that can generate anti-bodies.
Narration: The theory is, once you’ve had the vaccine and developed the antibodies… when the nicotine molecules enter your blood they bind to the antibodies… making them too large to cross the ‘blood-brain barrier’ …stopping them from ever entering the brain. The result… no dopamine rush...
Henrik Rassmussen: The rationale…is… if you don’t get the feedback, you don’t get the benefit, you don’t get the rush… Everybody recognises that it’s dangerous. Everybody recognises it costs money. Everybody recognises its anti-social. And with all that stuff, if you don’t get any benefit why the hell then would you do it.
I was just wondering how people felt about the development of such vaccines.
For those who've had a problem with particular drugs would you consider a vaccine as a method of quitting? As a parent, would you want your children vaccinated against nicotine, or any other drugs? Or would you leave it up to them to make an informed decision at a later stage in their lives? How would you feel if a mandatory vaccination program was put in place at some point in the future?