Cocaine Vaccine Found, Local Economy Doomed

Science has apparently moved well beyond the "Just Say No" camp and is finding ways to curb drug abuse by giving addicts other things to inject into their bodies.A promising cocaine vaccine is being studied, having just completed Phase 2 clinical trials. But only about a third of patients developed antibodies...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

October 6, 2009

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Science has apparently moved well beyond the "Just Say No" camp and is finding ways to curb drug abuse by giving addicts other things to inject into their bodies.

A promising cocaine vaccine is being studied, having just completed Phase 2 clinical trials. But only about a third of patients developed antibodies that fight the effect of the drug, and those effects lasted only about two months tops.

The patients enrolled in the study were also on methadone and undergoing various types of therapy. The effects of the vaccine, scientists say, would be minimal unless used in conjunction with other treatments.

Two and a half million people in the United States are addicted to cocaine, the study says, but less than 900,000 are getting any treatment.

[US News: Cocaine Addiction Vaccine Shows Limited Success]

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