A major cause of relapse in individuals recovering from drug addiction, specifically in the situation under discussion here, methamphetamine addiction, involves triggers associated with memories of past drug use.

A recent animal study, summarized inScienceDailyfor August 04, 2015, reports on an experiment involving injection of a chemical called blebbistatin into animals with laboratory induced methamphetamine addiction. One injection resulted in erasure of memories pertaining to use of methamphetamine. Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida stated that "The results [of the study] showed that a single injection of blebbistatin successfully disrupted long-term storage of drug-related memories–and blocked relapse for at least a month in animal models of methamphetamine addiction."

The scientists were excited because "… the effect of this novel treatment approach was specific to drug-associated memories (not affecting other memories), and the animals were still able to form new recollections."

In my opinion, drug companies and allied medical organizations tend to seek development of drugs that will quickly fix the problem of addiction. The most objectionable examples, in my view, include methadone and suboxone maintenance that approach treatment of opiate addiction through use of legal opiate substances. Less objectionable are approaches that involve administration of opiate antagonists such as naltrexone that block the ability of opiates to produce their addictive effects and seem to also help reduce cravings in recovering alcoholics. The advantage of opiate antagonists is that they do not produce a "high", as do methadone and suboxone.

The approach reported on in this post seems like science fiction but is consistent with the attempts by science to offer a quick fix for addiction. My preference for long term recovery is, of course, to aim for abstinence through the hard work involved in therapy and use of spiritual principles in the 12 Step Programs.

As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams,www.alcoholdrugsos.com, 08/08/2015.