Jul

27

BRITAIN PLANS ANTI-PLEASURE INOCULATION FOR ALL CHILDREN

The courierMail

Jab to beat addiction
Ben English and Jason Gregory, 26jul04

CHILDREN could be injected with an “anti-junkie” vaccination being developed by drug companies under a radical plan to combat rising addiction.

Under the plan, being considered by British MPs, doctors would immunise at birth babies considered to be at risk of becoming nicotine or drug addicts. The injection would be similar to an inoculation for measles or mumps.

Doctors believe the childhood jab would block the euphoric effects of drugs later in life, rendering useless narcotics such as heroin and cocaine.

The vaccinations are expected to be on the market within two years.

“People could be vaccinated against drugs at birth as you are against measles,” Professor David Nutt, a leading British government drugs adviser who sits on a national committee, said.

“You could say cocaine is more dangerous than measles, for example. It is important that there is a debate on this issue.

“This is a huge topic – addiction and smoking are major causes of premature death.”

In Britain, the Blair Government estimates drug addiction costs the nation more than $31 billion a year, once crime and health problems are taken into account.

In Australia, one estimate has placed the social cost of illicit drugs at more than $6 billion annually.

Scientific trials on drug vaccinations have already proved successful.

Xenova, the British biotechnology company, has tested an anti-cocaine vaccine which showed that 58 per cent of patients remained cocaine-free for three months.

The anti-drug vaccination is expected to be available to adult users as a nasal spray within two years.

British MPs called on the vaccination proposal to be investigated.

But Queensland Council of Civil Liberties president Ian Dearden said significant scientific and ethical problems overshadowed an immunisation plan in desperate need of public debate.

“Parents would need to know it is not the equivalent of a female circumcision that could take away a person’s genuine entitlement to feel pleasure,” Mr Dearden said.

“It is also something that needs to be given voluntary and have informed consent and possibly not a thing parents should be deciding for their children.”

Australian Medical Association vice-president Mukesh Haikerwal said the vaccine was, at best, still on the outer edges of medical science.

Despite positive health messages, such as reducing drug abuse, problems with it were apparent.

These included the taking away of choice, unwanted side-effects on delicate developing brains by blocking receptors for narcotics and drugs associated with narcotics at present being used for pain relief and by cancer sufferers.

“Would a drug be selective enough to find the brain’s euphoric chemical receptors?” Dr Haikerwal asked.

“It could be a ‘blunderbuss’ and knock off all the good sensations, like enjoying a beer or winning a race. It sounds very Orwellian.”

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