A Drug to End Addiction? Scientists Are Working on It.

A vaccine is a better term... this class of drugs to block the receptors is more akin to a vaccine than the heroin or meth that is killing people's children and parents. I'm fortunate not to have anyone close to me addicted to opiates...but my work has given me a peak into this crisis and I tell you it's unethical to jump to the conclusion that these people don't need medical support. Willpower isn't going to cut it. Their brains have been rewired to seek opiates. They need the 'drug' that makes it so the opiates don't keep them hostage or they end up destroying their lives looking for it!!! The fault can clearly be drawn back to pharma policies - but whatever the cause is now, don't leave these people to all die because their best hope right now is another drug. By not giving them suboxone or one of the longer term drugs, our tax dollars are paying for a revolving door in rehabs.

The key obstacle for this approach to work (aside from the costs) is the same encountered by disulfiram (Antabuse ) in alcohol dependency: the patient has to want to take it. A slightly more "esoteric" caveat: Heroin and synthetic opiates such as fentanyl can by snorted, and the antibody-based interception may not work if heroin etc. are used intranasal (basically, the blood brain /blood liquor barrier is incomplete there). Still, any new approach that might work even just in some situations is much welcomed.

I'm heartened to see a growing acceptance in the medical community towards medications to reduce cravings or the effects of narcotics. I'm also appalled by the puritanical, anti-science scolds (Sessions, Trump) who believe total abstinence is the one and only way for addicts to be healthy. Let's listen to the best practices being developed by scientists in more progressive countries (like those in Scandinavia). Methadone and suboxone for opiates, naltrexone for alcohol. They really work. Moreover, removing the stigma of relapse also reduces the shame and guilt that often follow a return to use, and which almost always prolong use. Addicts are notoriously stunted emotionally; why do we 'treat' them in a way that compounds their shame?

So a new drug will become necessary to not take a different drug. Tell me, again, what is addiction?

It is gratifying to see the start of another season of Retro Report Videos, accompanied by elucidating Clyde Haberman essays. Clearly, the team of Buck/Darden videographers create quality work. It is also true that no matter how enlightening visual images may be, complementary prose narrative can enhance & deepen understanding and appreciation. Could it be that Retro Report & New York Times are at work to pioneer a hybrid form of journalism superior to video, or narrative that stand alone? Mr. Haberman's strong essays serve as a bridge to many of us in the category of the younger old (60-80 years of age), reluctant to take to screens alone for information, news or entertainment. I find it fortuitous that two distinguished graduates the of the 1960's Bronx High School of Science, Clyde Haberman & Alan Dershowitz, would find such useful second acts later in life, albeit on opposing sides of the poltical fence. As the Spanish language 'modismo' has it, "Las vueltas que da el mundo, che!"

No: rather than treating addiction s a chronic illness, it should be treated as a PREVENTABLE illness. The true vaccine for addiction is emotional self regulation-- a skill learned in early life through being treated soothingly and empathically by the people caring for you from 0-3. The sad truth is that most addicts did not get enough external co regulation from caregivers in early life. They don't know how to receive support through the company and love of people because that did not happen for them in their childhoods. The same lack underlies a great many mental illnesses. If we want to move the needle on addiction we need to focus on strong attachment and parenting skills so that kids gain the ability to self regulate their emotions.

Any biologic that by necessity must be injected, is also incredibly expensive and unlikely to be covered by most people's skinflint insurance policies. I can't wait for this drug to be licensed to the very companies that also produce the opioids, thus completing the vicious circle. In that case, no doubt, they will lobby for this to be the first line of treatment for addiction, subsidized by the government, with any discussion of cost off the table.

Would Matyas' vaccine affect the body's endorphin system, and would it interfere with opioids used for surgical or cancer pain?

“Along that line, the vaccine being developed by Dr. Matyas, which is intended to be effective as well against H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS,....” Talk about burying the lede!