We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. ~Kurt Vonnegut
A vaccine to treat cocaine dependence appears to reduce the use of the drug in a small group of people who get a high anticocaine antibody levels in response. Only 38 percent of vaccinated individuals produced high enough antibody levels and those who did maintained them for only two months.
About 2.5 million Americans are dependent on cocaine, but only 809,000 receive treatment. One of every three drug related emergency room visits are attributed to cocaine addiction. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any pharmacological therapies for cocaine abuse. Behavioral therapies have a wide range of effectiveness. Studies have suggested that high levels of anticocaine antibodies in the blood can inactivate cocaine before the brain is affected, reducing feelings of euphoria without causing any psychoactive effects or harmful physiological interactions.