Abstract
Thirty-two cocaine-dependent methadone-maintainedpatients received an 8-week course of auricular acupuncture for the treatment of cocaine dependence. Fifty percent completed treatment; 88% of study completers attained abstinence, defined as providing cocaine-free urine samples for the last 2 weeks of the study, yielding an overall abstinence rate of-44%. Abstainers reported decreased depression, a shift in self-definition, decreased craving, and increased aversion to cocaine-related cues. Post-hoc comparisons to pharmacotherapy with desipramine (DMI), amantadine (AMA), and placebo revealed a higher abstinence rate for acupuncture (44%) than for AMA (15%) or placebo (13%), but not significantly higher than for DMI(26%).