The Development of Medications for the Treatment of Opiate and Cocaine Addictions: Issues for the Government and Private

Pharmacotherapy for the treatment of drug addiction has received far too little attention, despite the clinical success of methadone, dates back to the 1960s. Over the last 30 years only two additional medications have been approved for the treatment of opiate addiction, naltrexone and levo-alpha acetylmethadol (LAAM), and it is important to note that both of those medications were developed in the 1960s and early 1970s.