A cocaine vaccine?

A Time Magazine article this past week spoke about the success of early trials of a cocaine vaccine. The results, although only mildly successful, seemed to point towards the idea that a vaccination against addiction could be something viable in the fight to get people well. ABC news posted a video talking with Dr. Marvin Seppela, medical director of Hazelden, about the potential effects of something like this happening. The vaccination is built to damper the "high" users obtain from using cocaine, and therefore, scale back the level of craving.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (or NIDA), has mentioned that vaccinations against addiction are one of the institutes "...top priorities." NIDA is also working on a similar vaccination towards nicotine addiction. However, an interesting fact in the article: "About 25% of the study participants did not produce cocaine antibodies when vaccinated. In about half of these cases, researchers think smoking crack was the problem." This seems interesting, since it looks as though the vaccination would only alter the affects of powder cocaine users. As is widely known, crack cocaine causes far more severe effects among addicts, so it will be interesting to see if they find a way to combat the effects of crack addiction.

One of the more interesting points, made near the end of the article, was that the vaccine would need a number of consistent "booster" shots to keep up the effects of the vaccination. Dr. Volkow says that more than likely, the best use for the vaccine would be as a mode of relapse prevention, as opposed to a new method of abstinence. Since most addicts do require a form of aftercare, such as a 12-step group, this can be used as an additional tool to help support recovery and sobriety. In the spirit of the blog, being named Addiction Tomorrow after all, we're looking forward to seeing additional research and options for addicts to get well. This is encouraging, and hopefully we can get another tool in the toolbox to fight this battle.


Here's a great video about the myths of addiction.



Here's something funny.

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RIP DJ AM

Seems like addiction is in the news quite a bit lately. With the loss of DJ AM, who's real name is Adam Goldstein, we unfortunately see another death in the face of addiction. Found in his New York apartment "wearing only sweatpants, face down on his bed with a crack pipe and unspecified prescription drugs" nearby, Goldstein obviously was struggling with a relapse. A tragic ending for someone who had been sober for a number of years- a reminder that addiction is a chronic, progressive and fatal disease. The sad part is, less than a year ago, Goldstein survived a horrid plane crash, only to end his life at a too-young age with drug use. The thing to remember here- he was in the grips of a disease. Keep away from judgment- at this point, Goldstein's decision making was so far from the norm that going to far could only be expected. THIS is what addiction does.

Dr. Drew Pinsky brought up an interesting point- that pain medication likely led Goldstein down a path away from his recovery. We know that pain medication can be addictive and dangerous- we just saw Michael Jackson perish from an overdose as well. So Pinksy probably isn't that far off. We'll never truly know what caused DJ AM to go on a final drug run...but we can learn from this. It's sad that it sometimes takes a tragic loss for people to get a wake up call, but maybe some of our friends and families that are struggling with addiction, or asking for help, will see this as a warning for their own behavior.

In October, The Associated Press reported, MTV was to begin his new reality show, “Gone Too Far,” in which he and concerned families staged interventions for drug abusers. As a legacy, I hope they continue with the broadcast. In the end, DJ AM was reaching out to try and help young addicts. Struggling with relapse or not, he still was able to encourage individuals to see help. That, in its own way, is heroic. So Adam, we'll miss you.


Here's DJ AM performing in Las Vegas:



And here's AM talking about his in-progress MTV show about addiction:

MTV Shows

Here's something funny.

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Michael Jackson, back in the news.

This afternoon, CNN reported that Michael Jackson died of a propofol overdose. Taken directly from that article, here are the doses administered to Jackson during those final hours:

-- At about 1:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson 10 mg of Valium.

-- At about 2 a.m., he injected Jackson with 2 mg of the anti-anxiety drug Ativan.

-- At about 3 a.m., Murray then administered 2 mg of the sedative Versed.

-- At about 5 a.m., he administered another 2 mg of Ativan.

-- At about 7:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson yet another 2 mg of Versed while monitoring him with a device that measured the oxygen saturation of a his blood.

-- At about 10:40 a.m., "after repeated demands/requests from Jackson," Murray administered 25 mg of propofol.

If this isn't gross negligence, I don't know what is. Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal doctor, administered the doses himself. Now, being a doctor, he should've recognized that all of these are dangerous doses and that a "normal" person wouldn't have been able to survive even 1/5th of these. Regardless- if Jackson, as reported, was receiving prescriptions from multiple doctors, then shame on them as well. However, if Dr. Murray was Jackson's personal physician, he had a RESPONSIBILITY to insure Jackson's health. I hope, at the very least, that his license to practice is pulled, and at the most, he and the other prescribing doctors are charged with gross negligence, if not homicide. If the doctors knew this was going on, they should've done something, like refuse to prescribe or practice with Jackson. A gross abuse of power and money seems to be the what's behind this.

The power, apparently, laid in Jackson's hands, as he requested that Dr. Murray give him the injection. Murray, however, HAS a conscious. He should've been aware of the problem- and yet, he refused to do anything about it. A shame. Enabling behavior by family, staff, and healthcare providers contributed to the loss of yet another life.

In other news, it appears as though Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley has entered drug rehab.Beasley was fined $50,000 by the NBA last September after security officers at the league's rookie symposium detected the scent of marijuana in his hotel room. Too bad it took some consequences to get him in the doors, but we are glad he's getting the help he needs. As I touched on a couple of weeks ago, drug use is becoming more and more of a prevalent story. We can only hope that this awareness leads to more people seeking the help that they need.

Here's a video of Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about the effects of Propofol:



Here's something funny.

I'll be posting another blog entry tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back in. In the meantime, as per usual, follow me on Twitter and connect with me on LinkedIn. Become a fan of the blog on Facebook. And see you tomorrow.

The Wire- a unique viewpoint on the war on drugs

I've been wanting to write about this for a couple of months now, but with all the addiction in the news I just haven't gotten around to it. The Wire, the recently-ended HBO series, is one of the best shows ever to make it on TV (in my humble opinion). If you haven't watched it, you can rent it or buy it on Amazon here. The show is infinitely rewatchable, so definitely a good investment.

David Simon, the creator of the show, worked for the Baltimore Sun (newspaper politics and policies are featured in-depth in the show's final season) for a time before writing a couple of books and eventually Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire. There's a great article talking about Simon's background in The Atlantic; I'll touch on some of the points there, but the article is definitely worth a read. What's great about the show is the humanizing aspect- that both cops and drug dealers have their flaws-- and their good parts. I haven't ever felt a lot of empathy for drug dealers, at least until I saw The Wire.

Steven Levitt, author of Freakonomics, talks quite a bit about the dichotomy of drug dealing, and why many of the dealers on the street stay poor. Since drug dealing is like a pyramid scheme (those on top make a ton of money, but those on the low outposts can barely make as much as working at a McDonald's), it's difficult to break the poverty cycle in a drug-centered community. The Wire covers all of this throughout their various seasons, portraying all sides of the drug trade.

I love this show for a variety of reasons- a) it shows the ins and outs of battling drugs on the ground level from a police perspective; b) it talks directly about the effects of drug use and dealing on individual families; c) it shows an honest portrayal of people trying to make it out of the ghetto via the drug trade; d) the character Bugs is a great example of an addict trying to get well; and e) takes risks in dealing with the relationship of drugs and the police force. Many different opinions are expressed here, and David Simon's voice is a clear bell against the war.

If you want an inside scoop on the war on drugs, definitely check out The Wire- my favorite show ever. Never got great ratings, so I'll excuse you if you have yet to see it. But make sure you do.


Here's a great clip:



Oh and a quick note on the ongoing healthcare debate (I'll write a separate blog on this on a later date), we here at Addiction Tomorrow are in favor of an optional government sponsored healthcare plan- after all, having an option is better than not having one, and will be beneficial for the greater good. We need to make sure the private sector will be held accountable to standards of practice, but not snuffed out by a government healthcare plan. Ok, I'm off my soapbox for the day.

Here's something funny.

As always, follow me on Twitter and connect with me on LinkedIn. Become a fan of the blog on Facebook. And see you this week.