Treatment for alcohol dependency typically includes education and family/friends support to stop drinking, medications to reduce potential withdrawal symptoms and stop alcohol cravings, and finally professional counseling to work through relationship issues. Recently introduced to the marketplace is a drug which can help alcoholics quit. It includes a brand name chemical named ReVia [formerly called Trexan], Vivitrolnaltrexone. Vivitrol is taken monthly as an injection into the muscles. Naltrexone is also available in tablet form. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist that interferes with the part of the brain involved in producing the pleasure you get from drinking alcohol or other drugs. Basically, Naltrexone is used to reduce the pleasurable effects received from alcohol. This drug can be used alone or it can be combined with other medicines to treat alcohol dependence. Naltrexone works best to help you stop drinking if you also get counseling.1 Most studies show that naltrexone significantly reduces your chance for relapse after you have stopped drinking. But it might not be effective in treating men with severe, ongoing alcohol dependence. Some side effects of Naltrexone include nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. It can also cause headaches and make you feel anxious, sleepy, or nervous. You might develop liver damage if you have existing liver disease (such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, or liver failure) and take too much naltrexone. If you are addicted to narcotics taking this medicine will cause withdrawal symptoms. To effectively prevent relapse you might need to take naltrexone for several months. Vivitrol, a once-a-month injection of this medicine, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat drinking problems. This form of naltrexone can be useful for people who have a hard time deciding whether or not to take the medicine each day. Discover how to Stop Drinking Alcohol by Ed Philips and Quit Alcohol Today. (Source: Addiction Recovery Blog)

A study of heavy marijuana users found that about one-third reported resuming use of the drug to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms, according to researcher David Gorelick, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. (Source: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News)

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Probing the biology of cannabis addiction. Addiction expert Barbara Mason of the Scripps Research Institute of La Jolla, California, will oversee a four-year study of the neurobiology of marijuana dependence under a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). The comprehensive project will involve both animal and human research, and will make use of state-of-the-art functional brain imaging. The federal grant will also be used as seed money for the new Translational Center on the Clinical Neurobiology of Cannabis Addiction at the Scripps Institute. Mason, director of the Laboratory of Clinical Psychopharmacology at Scripps, told reporters in San Diego that the research, which will also be conducted at several universities, is important work: “People are deciding every day whether to use or not to use marijuana, for medical purposes or otherwise, and there is little scientific information to advise this decision.” Mason has previously done work on medical therapies for alcoholism, and on the connections between alcoholism and depression. An article by Terri Somers in the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Dr. Mark Gold, an addiction expert from the University of Florida: “While treatments have been developed for addictions from alcohol to nicotine and narcotics, none exists for the cannabis dependent. This research will help the field define what cannabis is and is not, and how to treat it.” Among the withdrawal symptoms common to heavy pot smokers, according to Mason, are anxiety, anger, sleep disturbances, and bad dreams. In earlier research, Mason discovered that those seeking treatment for cannabis addiction tended to cluster in two age groups—college age and mid-50s. The research coincides with a growing belief in the psychiatric community that cannabis dependence is real and verifiable, despite years of assertions to the contrary. There is at present a small and controversial body of clinical research, which strongly suggests the existence of a marijuana discontinuation syndrome. Dr. Gold and others believe that roughly one out of every ten pot smokers is at risk for marijuana dependence and withdrawal. Photo credit: Kevin Fung, Scripps Research Institute See also: Marijuana Withdrawal