Cocaine/Crack Dependence: A Study of the Possible Reduction of Compulsion Under the Use of Biperiden

Cocaine consumption affects around 13.4 mi people or 0.3% of the world population between 15 and 64 years old. The drug dependence has been described by many authors as a dysfunction of the brain reward system. Considering the effects of the cholinergic system on the drug reward and self-administration mechanisms, acetylcholine (Ach) may play an important role on cocaine dependence process. Then the present study aims to evaluate biperiden efficacy (a cholinergic antagonist) in attenuate compulsion, one o the main symptoms of the drug dependence. To accomplish this purpose 60 cocaine or crack male users between 18 and 50 years old will be study. This is a double-blind controlled and randomized placebo study. All the patients will be treated with brief intervention therapy (BIT), and half of them will receive biperiden (6mg/day) while the other half will receive placebo. The treatment efficacy will be evaluated through the comparison between the values obtained on the following measures before and after the treatment: Craving scale of Minnesota and Cocaine/crack consumption questionnaire, and the presence of the cocaine metabolite (benzoylecgonine) on urine.