Forget cookies new research reveals GLP-1s might relieve cocaine cravings too
Do GLP-1s curb drug and alcohol addiction? And if they do, can they also help curb crime, homelessness and even child abuse and neglect? A new $13 million clinical trial announced this week may start to answer these questions.With support from the Arnold Foundation, the Center for Addiction Science, Policy and Research (CASPR) and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services are launching a randomized controlled trial to test whether weekly injection of Ozempic or Wegovy, in addition to regular care, “can reduce alcohol and opioid use and reduce criminal-justice involvement while improving employment, health, and housing outcomes among people at elevated risk of criminal-justice involvement.”It sounds like a tall order, but experts believe that GLP-1 drugs present the best hope in a long time to curb cravings for alcohol and drugs among chronic addicts.These medications have several advantages.
First, they are long lasting.It is easier to get people to decide to take a shot once a week, than to take methadone every day or to take naltrexone each time they are going to drink.And GLP-1s don’t have the potential to be abused so they can be administered without the help of a medical professional.
They have shown promise even with addictions for which we have no other medication available, like cocaine.The side effects of these drugs are mostly positive — including, weight loss, combating diabetes, lowering cholesterol, and reducing inflammation.
The truth is that we don’t have many long-term solutions for people suffering from addiction.There are plenty of 30-day rehab programs out there.
Indeed, thanks to Obamacare it is very easy to get stays in detox programs paid for by the federal government — to the point that there is widespread fraud in the industry.But curbing alcohol and drug addiction often requires a complete lifestyle change.And if the addiction is so bad that people are regularly involved with the criminal-justice or the child-we...