Abstract

In Chile, the consumption of Cocaine Base Paste (CBP), a highly toxic and addictive substance, has become a serious medical and social problem in the poorest areas of the country. This substance is smoked and quickly provokes in the user the compulsive desire to continue using it, as well as to great difficulty in stopping consumption, mainlydue to the withdrawal symptoms that it generates in the user. To date there are no drugs with proven efficacy to treat CBP addiction or cocaine addiction, in any of its forms. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a drug used in our country and around the world, from several years, for other therapeutic purposes, have shown benefits in reducing cravings for cocaine use and prolonging the time of abstinence of this and other psychoactive substances. This article reviews the most relevant aspects of recent research about the effectiveness of NAC for the treatment of patients with cocaine addiction, raising and justifying the need to evaluate the possible utility of this medication in the management of CBP addiction, to different entity from the addiction to other forms ofcocaine.

Overview

In Chile, pasta consumption cocaine base (PBC), a highly toxic and addictive substance, has become a serious medical and social problem in the areas the country's poorest. This substance is smoke and quickly causes compulsive desire to continue using it in the user, as well as a great difficulty to stop their consumption, mainly due to the withdrawal symptoms that generates the user. To date there are no drugs with proven efficacy to treat addiction to the PBC or the addiction to cocaine, in any of its forms. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a drug used in our country and around the world, for several years, for other therapeutic purposes, has shown benefits in reducing the cravings for cocaine use and the prolongation of the withdrawal of this time and other psychoactive substances. This paper reviews the most relevant aspects of recent research on the effectiveness of NAC for the treatment of patients with cocaine addiction, proposing and justifying the need to evaluate the potential usefulness of this medication in the treatment of addiction to PBC, an entity different from other forms of cocaine addiction.