An implant to keep heroin addicts off street drugs?

Source: www.rawstory.com...

I believe this could be a very good development, so long as the implants are voluntarily. I have known about other implants that only make a person sick if they try heroin, though never an opiode replacement therapy in an implant form. Depending on the chemical or opiode replacement drug, it could have it's draw-backs, such as the patient needing surgery and not reacting to the anestesia or if the patient had an emergency involving severe pain. In both of those cases, opiodes wouldn't work if the implanted rug is going to be what I think it is, Buprenorphine + naloxone.

Eitherway, those new implant could have some serious benefits and it sure is welcome news.


--airspoon

This sounds like a good alternative to taking medications for addiction. Since this works for opiods I assume this would also work for oxycotin and other pain medications. Perhaps if the person was injured and in pain the inplant could be removed to administer pain medication.

reply to post by crazydaisy


Oxycontin, heroin and most other analgesic medications are opioides or synthetic opiates. Eitherway, they act as the same neurotransmitter in the brain, thus cuasing the physical addiction to go away. Some of them also help with the mental addiction too, though only because they target the same receptors, in the same way. Some medications like Suboxone and Subutex (buprenorphine) lodge themselves in the receptors, though because of they way they sit in those receptors, they prevent the euphoric feeling and would even block out heroin or other opiate molecules from reaching the receptors, thus making heroin or other opiate abuse pointless to the addict.

The draw-back to that of course, is that if the patient needs opiates for anestesia or an emergency involving pain, in which case, analgesic pain medications would not work. I believe the half life of buprenorphine in the brain, is 72 hours so a patient would have to wait 72 hours before being receptive to analgesic pain treatments or anestesia, something that is not practical in an emergency. The patient would also feel withdrawal effects during that 72 hour wait. This is why I think methadone or even a heroin-methadone mix is the way to go for heroin or opiate addicts (opiate maintenance), as both opioides work the same way on the brain.


--airspoon