According to Natalie Bailey at Medill Reports in Chicago, there are some issues of concern rising among experts as to the efficacy of a new vaccine currently being tested to immunize cocaine addicts against the pleasurable effects of cocaine.

Hopes for the New Cocaine Vaccine During and After Cocaine Addiction Treatment

The new vaccine is only in Phase 1 of the trials to determine whether or not it should be an option in cocaine detox and addiction treatment, but there is a buzz of excitement as well as a few concerns. The report says that the vaccine, given by injection, blocks the euphoria or “high” that people experience when they use cocaine, thus deterring them from relapsing during cocaine addiction treatment and recovery. The thought is, why get use the drug if it doesn’t get you high?

Since it is called a ‘vaccine,’ another thought is that if people are vaccinated then they won’t be tempted to use cocaine in the first place or won’t develop an addiction if they are experimenting with the drug.

Cocaine addiction and use contributes to an estimated 31 percent of drug-related emergency room visits and ends in cardiac arrest for many, so the hope is that this vaccine would counter that, saving lives and money.

Dr. Thomas Kosten is the principal investigator in the study. He says: “The vaccine is very safe and we did not observe any major side effects.”

Problems with the New Cocaine Vaccine During Cocaine Rehab

The problem with the new cocaine vaccine is the issue of cocaine overdose. Those intent on relapse or who really want to experience the high from cocaine may take more and more of the drug in order to override the vaccine and get high despite its presence in the system. Since the vaccine does nothing to render the physiological effects of the drug on the body impotent, cardiac arrest through overuse is still a problem.

Others believe that the vaccine only treats one of the symptoms of drug addiction and not the cause, which won’t ultimately help anyone with true drug addiction issues. Due to the psychological cravings for drugs during addiction and the underlying drive to self medicate other social and psychological problems that often accompanies drug addiction, some experts believe that the cocaine vaccine is essentially useless in the long term.

Dr. Andy Maniotis is a professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He says: “It makes no common sense to approach an addiction problem, especially to cocaine, whereby you block its users from feeling its effects.”

What Do You Think?

Do you believe that medications and vaccines have a place in cocaine addiction treatment? What about drug and alcohol addiction treatment in general? Will taking away the “high” that cocaine provides offer any medicinal effect in deterring future drug use? Should psychological treatment be combined with the vaccine? What do you think of the potential for a cocaine vaccine during drug addiction treatment?

Afghanistan is currently one of the poorest, most dangerous places on Earth.   But the women and children of this war-torn country have more to worry about that U.S. bombing raids or retribution from the taliban.   With opium plentiful throughout the country, women and children are now developing drug addictions at a alarming rate.

Shockingly, children as young as 4 years old are using opium - many obtain the drug from their parents who use it to numb the pain of their difficult existence.   Opiate addiction is difficult enough for adults to overcome - and the impact the drug has on young children is almost unimaginable.

There are almost no drug treatment centers for women and children in Afghanistan - and none that deal with family drug problems.   As a result, relapse is common and overdoses, which sometimes go unreported, impact the lives of countless families.

If you, or someone you know is suffering from a drug addiction, it is important to find professional help.  Consider yourself lucky to live in a country that has many outstanding drug rehab centers from which to choose.  The women and children of Afghanistan do not have such an option.

The 1970’s and 1980’s are viewed as cocaine’s “hey day” and indeed, statistics bear this out, as usage rates were at an all-time high for both powder cocaine (the 70’s and 80’s) and crack cocaine addiction (the 80’s and early 90’s).   And after falling rates at the end of the 20th century, there seems to be a resurgence in use of the stimulant around the world.

Let’s examine 5 of the reasons why this is occurring.

5 reasons why cocaine addiction is on the rise

1) The drug is cheaper. In the past, cocaine was viewed as a “rich person’s drug” but lower production and sale costs have made it available to wider cross-section of the population than ever before.

2) Cocaine is still seen as glamorous. Kate Moss, and a bevy of other celebrities are still high-profile users of cocaine - which has done nothing to dampen the drug’s image as glamorous.

3) Cocaine is still viewed as relatively harmless. As hard as it is to believe, given all the research and high-profile deaths surrounding the drug, surveys among young people (teens as well as young professionals) have found that a good portion of the population still see cocaine as harmless - even non-addictive.

4) More women are using cocaine. Although both sexes have been using cocaine more frequently in recent years, the re-emergence of the drug is lead by a jump in women addicts.    Recent studies in the U.S. and the UK have found a 10% jump among middle-class women using cocaine in the past two years.

5) People are working harder. Cocaine has always been seen primarily as a “party drug” but it is also used to fuel long stretches of work among blue-collar and white-collar men and women across a number of different industries.   With the economy in a state of disarray, individuals are working harder, longer hours than ever before - a fact that has led many to stimulant use, including cocaine.

Cocaine addiction can lead to financial ruin, heart disease and even death.   If you know someone who is struggling with cocaine addiction, contact a drug rehab center that can help!   The caring professionals who work in drug rehab know how to break the cycle of drug addiction, and give people the tools they need to live a clean and sober life.

Well known Rapper-turned-actor Cooli avoided jail time after his arrest for felony cocaine possession - and was ordered into a mandated 18-month stay at a drug rehab progam.

Coolio (his real name is James Ivey) was arrested at LAX in March after a search of his luggage revealed a large amount of cocaine.   When airport officials attempted to search his bag, the rapper grabbed the screener’s arm in an attempt to keep her from looking inside his luggage.

After the 45-year old completes all 18 months of the drug rehabilitation program the judge will rule on a possible dismissal of his case.

Once again, it takes the threat of jail time to convince a celebrity that they need help for a drug addiction.   One can only hope that Coolio will enter rehab with the right attitude, as it is only those who come to treatment in the right frame of mind who are truly able to get the most out of the program.

Those individuals who spend precious energy fighting the “system” that is there to help them are not likely to learn the decision-making skills needed to live a clean and sober life.

Everyone complains about pollution and air quality, but the residents of Madrid, Spain might actually have something to say about the matter.  According to a recent study, the air in Madrid contains trace amounts of five drugs, including cocaine.

Although the amount of the drug in the air is so low that it poses no immediate danger, it is still a fascinating phenomenon.

“Not even if we lived for a thousand years would we consume the equivalent of a dose of cocaine by breathing this air,” scientist Miren Lopez de Alda said in a statement.

It is also worth noting that the cocaine-laced air is not representative of the city as a whole.   According to the same scientists, the cocaine appears only in those areas that are known for heavy drug use.  The cocaine levels in the air in these areas is higher on the weekends, when more people are thought to be abusing drugs.

Spain is considered Europe’s biggest consumer of cocaine - with many residents enrolling in a drug rehab center each year as a result of their addiction to this dangerous drug.

With our media outlets focused on celebrities and public figures who slip into trouble due to drug addiction, it isn’t often that we get a chance to hear about a real-life drug rehab success story from an ordinary person just like you and me.

In this case, a big thank you should go out to ABC, who reported this week on the story of Delora Evans, a former crack cocaine addict who recently completed her long journey to sobriety and success by receiving her college degree.

It is hard to imagine anyone standing on stage with Delora at the University of North Texas graduation ceremony who traveled further in their lives to get there.

In the 1990’s Delora went from habitual marijuana smoker to full-on crack addict in as much time as her took her to take one puff on the crack pipe.

Problems with family and the law soon followed, and although she was mother to three children, she was evenutally sent to jail for drug-related crimes.  While under arrest, she gave birth to her fourth child, and became a drug counselor to other inmates struggling with addiction.

She entered drug rehab upon her release and learned the skills she needed to do something truly positive with her life.

Through drug counseling, Delora saw an opportunity to turn her life around.  Upon release from jail, she began her life a new, devoting everything to her education and her family.

Now, Delora has a degree in rehabilitation counseling, and is the mother of four happy children.  A drug rehab program worked for her, just as it can for anyone you know who is struggling with addiction or substance abuse.

Australian scientists are using honeybees to study the effect of cocaine on the brain’s functioning.    Leading researchers at Australia’s Macquarie University and the Australian National University hope that the study will illuminate solutions for treating cocaine addiction in human beings.

Honeybees are an excellent choice to help reach conclusions about human beings, as previous studies have found that both sepcies are driven by a reward system in their brain and have their judgement impaired by the use of cocaine.

This study focuses on what is known as a “waggle dance” - a dance that bees do when they wish to communicate their success on collecting food.  The study has already found that those bees which were given cocaine danced “more enthusiastically” than the bees in the control group.

By establishing that the bees are acting in similar ways to human beings when they take cocaine, the scientists can begin to study the pathways the drug takes while moving throughout the system.  If this knowledge can be gained effectively, it can provide a tremendous amount of insight into how to treat individuals with a cocaine addiction who have not found success in drug rehab.

Carrie Fisher was cast as Princess Leia in the seminal 1977 science fiction movie Star Wars and enjoyed a rapid rise to the top of Hollywood elite.  But, as she reports in her new memoir, Wishful Drinking, it came with a price.

According to Fisher, who as the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds was no stranger to Hollywood, she couldn’t handle the success and soon became depressed and stricken with anxiety.  These conditions led her to substance abuse, and it being the 1970’s she soon found herself with easy access to LSD, cocaine and other drugs.

Years of drug addiction followed, with the actress finally bottoming out when she developed a bipolar disorder and then overdosed on prescription sleeping pills.

That she is willing to share these painful memories and not have a movie to promote is refreshing in a town where everyone seems to have a marketing-relative motive for everything that comes out of their mouth.

But Ms. Fisher seems to find a genuine catharsis in discussing the sordid side of her past:

“I am only as sick as my secrets,” said the actress in a recent interview, in a comment that is as true as it is funny.

With drug rehab a headline maker due the celebrity residents who check in there, it is easy to forget how many people receive genuine life saving treatment from these facilities.  Carrie Fisher’s journey may have started long ago, in a galaxy far, far away - but it ended with her receiving addiction treatment when she needed it most.

With major music industry types such as Russell Simmons and Carly Simon in his corner, the case of John Forte has received major headlines over the past few years.  One of the late 1990’s most prodigious R&B and Hip-hop songwriters/performers, Forte was arrested in 2000 for taking part in a cocaine smuggling operation that was bringing millions of dollars worth of the drug in the U.S.

After what many believed was an unfair trial, and an unjustly harsh sentencing, Forte was send to prison for 14 years, where his case became a cause celebre.

Now, John Forte has finally seen his prayers answered, as President George Bush pardoned the musician this week.  Forte is scheduled for release in December.

The Forte case brought many important issues into the spotlight.  Among them was the question of how to best fight the war on drugs.  The fact that Forte committed a non-violent crime, and was a first time offender made such a tough sentence difficult for many to swallow.  Currently, in the U.S. prison system there are hundreds of thousands of individuals who committed similar crimes in like circumstance living out long sentences.

When issuing the pardon, President Bush took into account the nature of the young man as well as his potential to give more to society outside of a jail cell.

Individuals who are struggling with drug addiction need help!  Contact a drug rehab facility in your area if you are someone you know is struggling with a dependence on illicit substances.

Lillo Brancato Jr., a promising young actor who played roles in HBO’s hit The Sopranos as well as opposite Robert DeNiro is his film A Bronx Tale is living a nightmare that could have come straight out of the scripts of one of his movies.

In 2005, Brancato was involved in the death of the New York City police officer during a robbery where he and an accomplice were attempting to steal drugs from their dealer.

During the robbery, the drug dealer who owned the house fired at the men breaking into his house, but also killed his neighbor, police officer Daniel Enchautegui who heard the commotion and had come over to investigate.

That leaves Brancato accused of burglary and murder and could face life in prison as a result.  His trial in New York City began this past week.

The story of Lillo Brancato Jr., is extreme, but is also indicative of a lifestyle where easy access to drugs and alcohol can lead to addiction and criminal behavior.  Heroin addiction and cocaine addiction were constant issues with this obviously troubled young man, but because of his fame - and ironically, the types of tough guy roles he portrayed - few were there to say NO and reach out with help.

Famous or not, if someone you know is struggling with drug addiction, help them find a drug rehab facility that can provide the life-saving treatment they desperately need.