Cocaine is one of the most powerful and addicting drugs available in Miami Gardens, Florida and beyond. It entices its users with feelings of euphoria, energy and motivation by increasing the availability of dopamine in the brain. Because of the drug’s wide accessibility and popularity among both adults and teenagers, is it no surprise cocaine addiction has swept across the U.S. and overseas. In fact, a 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health report states 1.5 million people use cocaine every month.

Cocaine Addiction: Potential New Treatment?

Cocaine addiction can wreak havoc on someone physically, financially and emotionally. And withdrawal and recovery, while possible, is not an easy road. But now there may be a new drug treatment that can help those who are in the midst of cocaine withdrawal. Researchers at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom believe they have found a promising new drug treatment for those dealing with cocaine addiction.

Researchers at the University used mice to study the effects of a routinely used cancer drug and how it could help with addiction to cocaine. During the experimental trials, they found that a single administration of the cancer drug (created by Pfizer), impedes memories that are responsible for the user’s cravings of the drug. By inhibiting these memories, researchers believe it could speed up the process of ending drug-seeking behavior in someone who is living with cocaine addiction.

Cocaine’s Addicting Effects

So, why is focusing on memories when dealing with cocaine addiction and withdrawal crucial? For starters, some of cocaine’s addicting effects are produced by the way the drug acts on a person’s limbic system. The limbic system is responsible for someone’s formation of memories, and how they perceive pleasure, motivation and emotions. When someone uses cocaine, they can feel euphoric and have intense feelings of pleasure, then associating the drug with these feelings. It is these feelings and memories that can lead to continual desire for the drug.
While researchers at Cardiff University were able to shut off the desire for the drug in mice, studies and experimental trials in humans would still need to be completed to see if Pfizer’s cancer drug has the same effect.

With illicit drug use on the rise, this potential new treatment from Cardiff’s researchers could be ground-breaking in the treatment of drug addiction. Also stated in the above-mentioned National Survey on Drug Use and Health’s 2014 Report was the fact that over 900,000 Americans met the criteria for being dependent on cocaine. In addition, a Drug Abuse Warning Network report from 2011 cited cocaine abuse or misuse was responsible for 505,224 of the nearly 1.3 million illicit-drug related emergency room visits.

Because cocaine is so highly addictive, cocaine withdrawal can be difficult on a user, causing him or her to seek out the drug once again. While physical symptoms aren’t exactly the same as withdrawal from other drugs, such as intense shaking and vomiting, an extreme crash does occur when someone stops using cocaine. During this crash period, the user might feel fatigued and anxious, sleepy, irritable, suspicious and/or paranoid. Because an intense lack of pleasure and motivation may also be felt during cocaine withdrawal, strong cravings for the drug can begin to occur. Cardiff researchers are hoping their drug breakthrough will soon be used as treatment to deter these cravings.

If you or a loved one would like to begin your recovery journey, just give one of our caring recovery advocates at Miami Gardens Drug Treatment Centers a call at (786) 724-0454 for information.