cannabisnews.com: Brain Buildup Causes Cocaine Addiction 





 Brain Buildup Causes Cocaine Addiction 
Posted by FoM on September 15, 1999 at 20:15:29 PT
The Associated Press
Source: Washington Post
Cocaine may be one of the toughest addictions to cure because it triggers a buildup of a protein that persists in the brain and stimulates genes that intensify the craving for the drug, new research suggests. 
Scientists at the Yale School of Medicine were able to isolate the long-lived protein, called Delta-FosB, and show that it triggered addiction when released to a specific area of the brains of genetically engineered mice. The protein (pronounced fawz-bee) is not produced in the brain until addicts have used cocaine several times, or even for several years. But once the buildup begins, the need for the drug becomes overpowering and the user's behavior becomes increasingly compulsive. The study, published today in the journal Nature, indicates genetics is less a factor in addiction than prolonged drug use, said Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded part of the study. Nestler and his colleagues combined genetic and biochemical research to isolate the Delta-FosB protein and the area of the brain it affected, then did behavioral studies on the mice. Thursday, September 16, 199912:00 a.m. EDT © 1999 The Associated Press 
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Comment #3 posted by cerebus on September 15, 1999 at 23:13:09 PT
hmmm
good points bolth of u. cocaine is a drug that does affect dopamine in the brain which makes it more likely for physical and psycological abuse. my only brush with that substance i dont get it ur heart beats like its gonna burst ur edgy not pleasant in my book. but then i didnt know i was smoking a bowl with cain mixed in. i have known occasional users or recreational users. although i know many cain users that have been to rehab too. my question is genetically engineered rats? how r they engineered why are they enginered? i wouldnt recommend cocaine to anyone however because of the potential for abuse however. truth and honesty in all things. 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 15, 1999 at 21:49:22 PT
I Don't Know Much About Cocaine
Doctor Dave,What I know abut Cocaine is very little. I know two people that have battled cocaine addiction on and off for many years. Both of them have a similar pattern of behavior that made me think that it is a chemically induced state but this is just what I think.Both of these people one woman and one man go on binges of cocaine use. Then they stop. Their binges seems to run every few months. It just is odd to me to think what makes a person want to do cocaine. Thanks for you comment!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #1 posted by Doctor Dave on September 15, 1999 at 21:08:14 PT
This sounds like a load of crap to me
and I'm not what you'd call a low-wattage bulb when it comes to chemistry. "in genetically engineered mice ... stimulates genes that intensify the craving for the drug" - how can the director of NIDA draw a conclusion about this in the use of all addictive drugs in humans? And why would a newspaper report it that way with no opposing viewpoints? Sounds to me like the NIDA is (as always) trading our tax dollars and some pharmaceutical cocaine for federal-research-money-hungry Yalite puppets.By the way, I'm not an advocate of taking any plant, concentrating it into a powder, and ingesting it by snorting it through one's nasal membranes. But it surely makes no sense to put someone in prison for doing this. The money spent on this research (or to keep a non-violent drug prisoner incarcerated) could have been spent on gaining real data on HUMAN drug use (or abuse) through federally-funded treament-on-demand facilities - instead of a bunch of cocaine-using genetically-engineered rodents.Doctor Dave"A nation that makes war on huge numbers of its own people can never truly be free."
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