drugs

Vaccines in the Works Against Smoking, Cocaine

The “gruff-talking” chemist Dr. Kim D. Janda is working tirelessly to perfect a shot that prevents addicts from enjoying their substance of choice, most notably coke and cigarettes:

Unlike preventive vaccines — like the familiar ones for mumps,measles and so on — this type of injection would be administered after someone had already succumbed to an addictive drug. For instance, cocaine addicts who had been vaccinated with one of Dr. Janda’s formulations before they snorted cocaine reported feeling like they’d used “dirty coke,” he said. “They felt like they were wasting their money.”

The catch — besides the fact that none of the vaccines have received FDA approval — is that even if it worked for one drug, an addict could simply switch to something like meth or heroin. Additionally, marijuana and alcohol are so tricky, even science can’t stop them from feeling good.

Related: This Is My Brain on Chantix [NYM]
An Addiction Vaccine, Tantalizingly Close [NYT]

The catch — besides the fact that none of the vaccines have received FDA approval — is that even if it worked for one drug, an addict could simply switch to something like meth or heroin. Additionally, marijuana and alcohol are so tricky, even science can’t stop them from feeling good.

Related: This Is My Brain on Chantix [NYM]
An Addiction Vaccine, Tantalizingly Close [NYT]

Vaccines in the Works Against Smoking, Cocaine