Reports from the Lincoln Hospital Acupuncture Clinic indicate acupuncture as an effective treatment for cocaine/crack abuse. Acupuncture treatments are described as reducing the intense drug craving associated with cocaine addiction. The proposed study is designed to examine the effects of acupuncture on reducing individuals cocaine /crack craving in a controlled research situation. Individuals seeking treatment for free base cocaine /crack abuse will be assigned to detoxification or placebo acupuncture treatments. Placebo treatments involve acupuncture at locations not associated with detoxification treatment. Phase I subjects will be observed in a research situation analogous to the acupuncture detoxification protocol used at Lincoln Hospital. One hundred subjects (50) experimental, 50 placebo) will be provided daily acupuncture sessions over the course of a month. Phase I subject will be instructed to receive daily acupuncture during the first ten days of treatment. receiving up to two treatments per day. Subjects then receive acupuncture on a patient request/need (PRN) schedule for the remainder of the moth. Subjects' pre- and post-treatment Addiction Severity Index scores urine profiles, self reports regarding drug craving treatment retention and requests for additional daily treatments will be used as dependent variables. A followup study and their current drug usage assessed. Phases 2 and 3 of the project are replications of the Phase 1 study. In Phase 2,100 subjects (50) experimental, 50 placebo) will be instructed to initially receive daily acupuncture during the first five days of treatment followed by acupuncture provided on a PRN schedule. Phase 3 involves provision of acupuncture sessions (N=100) using only a PRN schedule. The proposed project represents the first controlled study regarding outpatient acupuncture treatment for freebase cocaine/crack abusers.
| Lipton, D S; Brewington, V; Smith, M (1994) Acupuncture for crack-cocaine detoxification: experimental evaluation of efficacy. J Subst Abuse Treat 11:205-15 |
