Free Republic

Damion Thomas said he has been in trouble for most of his life. Drinking. Drugs. Rehabilitation programs. Slip-ups. More drugs. More trouble. Heroin. “I lost everything. I haven’t seen my child in two years. My house, my car, my job. I lost trust in my family, my wife. I lost my pride, self-respect,” said the 36-year-old graduate of Community Corrections Association, a Youngstown-based alternative rehabilitation program. Thomas, who has been serving a two-year sentence for trafficking heroin, said one little white pill that he takes three times every day is what is going to keep him straight for good this...

French health authorities have approved the use of a drug, originally designed to treat nervous spasms, for the treatment of alcoholism on a "case by case" basis. AFSSAPS, the regulator that authorises drugs, said that while the drug Baclofen had not been definitively shown to be efficient in the treatment of alcoholism, it had shown "clinical benefits in some patients". It recommended in a statement that Baclofen -- the lab name for a medication branded as Kemstro, Lioresal and Gablofen -- should be considered on a "case by case" basis. The history of the drug goes back 50 years. It...

Abstract BACKGROUND: Abrupt cessation of alcohol intake causes habituated drinkers to experience symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-B agonist baclofen on the course of acute symptomatic AWS. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. SETTING: Two tertiary-care hospitals in Duluth, Minnesota. PATIENTS: Inpatient adults admitted for any reason (including AWS) judged to be at high risk for AWS. INTERVENTION: Inpatients who developed symptoms of AWS received symptom-triggered benzodiazepine treatment using lorazepam by standard protocol, and were randomized to receive baclofen 10 mg or placebo, 3 times per day, orally. MEASUREMENTS:...