Pill That Cures Addiction Gets Little Respect From Mainstream
Recovery Industry

By William McCloskey

You would expect a medication that seemingly works miracles for both
drug & alcohol abuse to gain immediate interest and popularity. But
in today's addict-adverse, dollar-driven health care climate -- you
would be very sadly, very tragically wrong.

Such a medication exists. It works extremely well to stop cravings
for alcohol and a broad spectrum of drugs of abuse. But somebody,
somewhere must not want you to know about it. That's because its
limited popularity results almost entirely from a home-grown
internet-based recovery movement.

The drug is named ReVia (generic name: Naltrexone). It works by
altering brain chemistry to block receptors that respond to alcohol
and opiates. But chances are good that your doctor and pharmacist
have never even heard of it, much less gained any expertise in its
use.

Could this be because the entrenched, traditional recovery industry
-- with its expensive, questionably efffective 28-day rehab programs
and its legions of physicians, nurses, counselors and therapists --
has an interest in keeping things JUST AS THEY ARE?

Wouldn't a simple pill that more or less just simply stops addiction
... wouldn't that derail the gravy train for addiction recovery
professionals? Wouldn't that screw up everything for an industry
that has gotten rich by keeping its customers addicted, relapsing
and dependent upon the same old standards of care?

Despite the remarkable results, the thousands of Americans who have
transformed their lives by using Naltrexone didn't read about it in
the surgeon general's report or see it featured on "60 Minutes" or
hear about it from their doctor. Chances are they had to find it for
themselves.

A Pioneer in Pennsylvania
One of the leading figures in the slowly growing Naltrexone recovery
field is Joseph Volpicelli MD, PhD, at the University of
Pennsylvania. Since 1986, he has pioneered the drug's suitability
for a variety of addiction applications, conducted clinical trials
for safety and efficacy and created a comprehensive e-mail-website
support mechanism for Naltrexone-based recovery.

According to Volpicelli, Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors in the
brain and therefore blocks the euphoric "high" from opiates. His
research shows that alcohol and opiates share similar pleasurable
effects and these effects can be blocked with Naltrexone.

A New Force in Phoenix
Another leading participant in the Naltrexone treatment movement is
Assisted Recovery Center of America, Phoenix, AZ.

Founded in 1996 Lloyd Vacovsky, a veteran addictions counselor,
Assisted Recovery provides outpatient care, facilitates access to
Naltrexone prescriptions and promotes education and support.

Like Volpicelli's program at the University of Pennsylvania,
Assisted Recovery uses an internet website and e-mail community to
spread the word about the new pharmaceutical-based addictions
therapies.

Vacovsky said, "So far we have worked almost exclusively with
Naltrexone. However, we also utilize ondansetron for alcohol and
amantadine for cocaine. We are in the process of starting our first
client onto buprenorphine for opiate detox, and then will place him
on Naltrexone to suppress the cravings and the ability to get high
via an opiate.