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Cocaine Vaccine In the Works
martyros writes "Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine are performing clinical trials of a vaccine that teaches the immune system to attack cocaine, preventing it from giving a high. The vaccine is made by attaching inactivated cocaine molecules to the outside of inactivated cholera proteins. When the immune system attacks the cholera proteins, it also 'learns' the cocaine molecules as well. The result is that the immune system 'recognizes the potent naked drug when it's ingested. The antibodies bind to the cocaine and prevent it from reaching the brain, where it normally would generate the highs that are so addictive.'" An earlier story from The Star notes that human trials for vaccines against both cocaine and nicotine are well under way.
I hope this wundervacine will not attach to some of the body's natural painkillers.
Ofcourse I won't. I wouldn't deny them the wonderful experience of highly addicting and dangerous drugs.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
Would you vaccinate your child ?
Or your employees? Or your signed artists?
Ah goody. Another blow landed in the Puritans' War On Fun. Soon, we'll all be living as their god intended, with no frivolous distractions at all! What could be more satisfying?
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
Wasn't this a subplot of Neuromancer or something, where the main character was forcibly taken away from his various addictions by having his liver modified to not process the various chemicals?
gay
I doubt it would matter much. There's a lot of evidence that drug abusers will simply switch drugs when their drug of choice becomes unavailable.
It's a real comfort to know that meth, oxy and alcohol abuse will still be available to our children after we save them from the scourge of cocaine.
Imagine a terrorist group that developed a "vaccine" that made some other drugs useless and found a way to deliver the "vaccine" worldwide, say, using a modified virus.
If it disabled "comfort" drugs like pain medications, it would be annoying and economically costly. If it deactivated drugs essential for life, such as drugs to treat high blood pressure or treat fatal illnesses, the consequences could be far worse.
I don't expect this any time soon but it could happen this century.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
From what I understand about drug addiction and attempts to kick the habit, you won't just "lose interest", you'll be going through living hell for quite a while - your body is looking for something you're not giving it, it's going to be pretty mad at you. This is why people relapse - they remember the shiny happy times, ignore that bad bits about those times and it all looks so much better than what they're in at the moment, so they go back to their drug.
If you use this vaccine, then that becomes impossible, you burn that bridge. But that doesn't remove the desire to be back on drugs, it just removes your favourite one from the list of possibilities. There's still plenty of others around and I think it's pretty safe to say that people who were going to relapse anyway will do so with or without the vaccine - the only thing that will change is the drug they'll use. So that'll be a statistic to look for: What percentage of people trying to give up Cocaine on this vaccine will end up on another drug? Compare this to a control group of people not on vaccine ending up going back to cocaine.
I'm deadly serious.
Used as an involuntary jab to fight the idiotic 'war on drugs' it is a clear violation of civil and cognitive liberty (I'm using that phrase more and more these days, not something I'm happy about). Used as part of a rehab programme, it kills the drug use without addressing the underlying weakness of character that created the addict. They are likely to fuck themselves up in some other way.
There isn't always, and shouldn't always be, a quick fix.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
as court mandated immunizations ... I would major issues if the gov was to require this in all people
The way our legal system is working these days, it'll be part of some mandatory sentencing for anybody with any narcotics offense, maybe they'll even amend the constitution to allow them to force this treatment, merely on the suspicion of cocaine use.
It's no more out-there an idea than civil forfeiture was. We must win the "war on drugs" at all costs! And there's no way that society could deal with societies problems, on a personal level. No, big momma government must protect us!
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Ever see Brain Candy by kids in the hall? In the movie, a happy pill gets invented and becomes the newest craze. No side effects, and it works by making you relive your happiest experience. Eventually, people get addicted and become happy, brain-dead zombies. Why bother to do anything if you're always happy?
I definately agree with you that trying to outlaw a drug just leads to the development and adoption of new ones, but I don't think that means this is useless. If this was given only to cocaine addicts who wanted (for themselves) to get clean but can't because they are addicted it could be highly effective. If given to every kid before he enters college, pretty much worthless and even arguably dangerous.
I hate smoking as much as anybody but an in school vaccination program for behavior modification?
Just seems wrong to me. Maybe if my kid starts and wants to stop and is having problems but as a preventative measure?
I would have to say no to that.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
You'll be getting the vaccination yourself as soon as your car and life insurance carrier requires you to submit to it or face double the fees. And once your employer demands it for employment. And once it's required for citizenship. And once you are placed on a "cause for suspicion" list simply for not being vaccinated.
I agree that this sounds like a great thing, though I hope they don't follow this line of reasoning too far. It shouldn't be something for the parents to decide, otherwise you may get parents that decide they don't want their children to experience any kind of rush when doing dangerous sports, or decide that they block some naturally occurring highs because they don't want little eating lots of sweets, or getting knocked up. That's when the world starts to get creepy!
which is totally what she said
I expected some responses to this topic to be against the notion of the vaccine on the basis of 'OMG Next they come for anything else that is fun'. But the number of those responses surprises me.
Now, I am sure there are many people on this site who (gasp!) smoke marijuanna. And I am sure there are people here who like to cap their weekends here with hookers and blow. And I am sure they also have such many wonderful stories as "I put a half kilo up my nose every week and I am a fully productive member of society". To all of those people, I say the following:
Get a clue.
For one, I highly doubt westernized society would be quick to start to inflict any form of medical procedure on someone who does not wish it. We let plenty of idiots choose not to vaccinate their children against measles and the like. I am sure plenty of nutjobs out there would like to see an anti-cocaine vaccine be made manditory, but I do not think it will happen.
For another, I am also sure there are plenty of people who would like to end their addictions, but find themsleves unable to. I do not think that there are many people out there who would wake up one day and say "Wow, I really wish I was still addicted to cocaine."
I agree, however, that there is danger in this vaccine in that it can also affect a lot of anesthetic's used for medical purposes. That danger should be very carefully looked into.
END COMMUNICATION
Coke is ok...you gotta watch out for getting crap, though. Crappy (i.e. really cut) coke is REALLY crappy. As a drug, coke is decent, but it lasts for a very short time...minute for minute, it's extremely expensive (and, in my opinion, it's effects do not warrent the high price of entry.)
For the price of an eight-ball, you could get enough shrooms for yourself and a few of your friends...much better experience. You have the opportunity to learn things by taking substances like shrooms, weed, salvia, etc. Coke is kinda like having a shot after work. You won't have any life-changing experience, but you'll feel real nice for a little bit.
Just remember. There is a HUGE difference between a drug USER and a drug ABUSER. Be a user, don't be an abuser.
Living With a Nerd
Right. They came up with a vaccine for sex too. It's called female circumcision.
It doesn't seem like the real market is in vaccinating children -- it's in people who are voluntarily trying to quit use of cocaine through rehab and therapy. If I had a monkey on my back, was trying to quit, and knew that I could relapse at any moment I'd be quite happy to get pharmacological help in quitting. It's the same as heroin addicts who are in rehab and want methadone or the new drugs that block the action of street drugs.
In that case, it's great. You can argue about parents vaccinating their kids, but it's not clear that the vaccine would last long enough nor be priced right for it to be a routine part of kid therapy. But it could be a huge help for those who want to quit and fear relapse into addiction.*
*-You can argue whether cocaine is highly physically addictive or just slightly physically addictive, but there's no denying that there are plenty of people who are (at least) psychologically addicted to powder or rock.
That's because there's people who would rather see people who inject drugs die than see them receive any sort of help.
Sometimes the simple act of injecting is a cry for help. Which can be very frustrating to those standing around watching shit unfold... because everyone feels helpless, and usually it has to do with an ex-significant other who is trying to get attention.
If this vaccine, and vaccines like this are available, then those that are "crying help" will have no other option than to decide to take this vaccine. They asked for the help - well we'll fucking give it to them. And then they can stop threatening to off-themselves through overdose if their ex-significant other does leave themselves. At least they can make the choice to live or die completely sober.
I can easily picture that many of the parents in favour of vaccinating their children against cocaine would happily feed them Ritalin if they misbehaved, which does pretty much the same damn thing.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
... would be that recipients of such a vaccine are not going to stop consuming cocaine -- they'll just take more of it to get a high. And they may end up taking such dangerously high levels that they kill themselves (whereas before, they would have stopped at smaller doses once they had achieved their high).
Instead of addressing the symptoms, the world really should have been attacking the problems: working to raise education and the standards of living in countries like Columbia, and helping those countries crack down on the production of the stuff in the first place.
I realize that half of what I'm about to say doesn't have much to do with what you actually wrote in your post, but your post seems like a good place to write this response, seeing as you have a somewhat skewed view on what a drug is or is not.
What do you think painkillers are? NOT drugs? Tell me, how is it that cannabis or shrooms (which grow ENTIRELY without human intervention) are considered drugs, and yet you wouldn't consider something manufacturered by a human in a laboratory to be a drug?
Pain killers are drugs. DXM is a drug. Viagra is a drug. Anti-depressents are drugs. Novacaine is a drug. Nicotine is a drug. Alcohol is a drug. Hell, even caffeine is a drug. You can't honestly sit there and be ok with something made in a lab and not call it a drug, but be against something that grows naturally, has less side effects, and call it a drug. That's just insane.
There is one thing you should realize...there is a big difference between a drug USER and a drug ABUSER. Be a user. Don't be an abuser.
Living With a Nerd
Thank you for bringing this up. Because all drugs are illegal, sellers try to sell the most expensive thing, ie: the most potent stuff. This can be transported easier because people need less of it, and they can sell less to make a profit. Legalizing just marijuana would cut down on the usage of other drugs by so much, not to mention take power away from gangs.
But, drugs are bad, m'kay. Meet the America that would rather gang violence over someone enjoying marijuana after a long day.
>you are also not free to drive 120 mph on the highway, bceause you put the lives of people other than yourself in jeopardy
Yes, but if you own your own racetrack, you are perfectly free to do so.
>likewise, users of highly addictive substances risk turning themselves into wards of the state that my taxes must feed and clothe
Since this never happens to the vast majority of the users of any drug, why not apply that standard to everything else that has the same probability of making someone into a ward of the state? Like roller skating or skydiving. It's a dumb argument, as just about anything can affect someone else in some convoluted imaginary scenario. Besides, it is far cheaper to treat people who have a problem with drugs than it is to try and keep everyone from doing them at all.
>that you don't understand how pursuing risky pursuits that flirt with drug addiction reduces my freedom is not a valid excuse
That you have an overinflated view of the risks to your freedom is not a valid excuse to keep anyone else from pursuing their happiness. You don't ban cell phones because someone driving a car while talking on one caused an accident, you ban the dangerous act itself. Likewise there is nothing inherently dangerous to others about doing any given drug, but if you misbehave while on one you should be punished. Just like anyone else.
-- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
It conflicts with the business interests of a politician's donors.
"Although I think it's a pointless vaccine (who would want it, the point of taking in cocaine IS to get high) "
It could be useful to cocaine addicts?
>_>
No one said it's for children or enforcing parental controls on ingested substances. It's pretty easy for a cokehead to have a moment of sobriety/clarity and decide to straighten out their life.
My brother's done this over 12 times(that's enough rehab money to buy a decent house). Once they take this vaccine they don't have a choice any more of whether or not to get high since it won't work.
This is exactly what they need... They'll get the craving and the stuff simply won't do anything for them and there's no turning back. I think it's awesome. If it really works, anyone that's watched a family member deteriorate and stop mentally growing, because of a cocaine addiction, will rejoice.
That being said, I don't believe it will work. There is no silver bullet for addiction. I predict someone (likely a kingpin) will figure out a way to reverse the vaccine and we'll be back to square one.
-AC
No, it's not that fun. Even when it's really good, it's still a giant waste of money. It lasts about 15-20 minutes and then you just want to do more, but can't really say why. Overall, there are far better drugs out there unless you just like wasting money.
-- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
Both would prefer no other pleasures exist to compete with their interests, as suggested by George Orwell.
Why bother.
Some vaccines -- you take it once, you're protected forever. Others wear off eventually. I'm not sure if this is due to the illness evolving, or whether the immune system 'forgets' certain antibodies over time.
If this vaccine is permanent, expect to see it eventually being pushed into vaccination cocktails given to kids. Totally avoids the consent issue because the parents give consent, not the child. Whether this is a good idea or not, I couldn't say, but sooner or later someone at the DEA is gonna think of it.