Australia: Teen speed use opens way to addiction, study suggests

Research on the brain's reaction to amphetamines suggests that teenage experimentation with the drug speed can increase the chances of addiction.

The research at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute has found the brain becomes sensitised to the drug.

The researchers administered small doses to adolescent rats, then re-administered amphetamines to them as adults.

Experiments on rats showed that early use had an effect on the brain even if the teenager did not become a regular user.

Researcher Andrew Lawrence says the adult rats were more sensitised to the drug.

"It demonstrates that if teenagers use speed or similar drugs and then stop using it, but when they're an adult reuse again, they're very likely to have exaggerated and possibly unpleasant experiences," Dr Lawrence said.

"What we've shown is that adolescent usage of these stimulant drugs predisposes these sensitised behaviour patterns well into adulthood."

Dr Lawrence says that opens the door to addiction by activating the brain's reward region and increases the risk of heart attack.

The findings do not apply to Ritalin, a drug which is administered to deal with attention deficit disorder.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Wed, 05 October 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
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