10th Stapleford International Addiction Conference

Main themes

The main themes will be similar to those of the previous meeting (plus a few more) – because no other addiction conference focuses on treatment with pharmacological and behavioural antagonists. The conference will particularly focus on:

• RCTs and other aspects of naltrexone implants and depot injections for opiate dependence, including new studies from the US, Australia and Russia.
• Progress in rapid transfer from opioid agonists to antagonist.
• Rapid benzodiazepine detoxification with flumazenil and prospects for flumazenil implants.
• Developments in disulfiram treatment for alcoholism.
• The first practical immunological treatment for an addiction – nicotine vaccines.
• Cannabis antagonists for cannabis problems.

Provisional programme

The programme of the conference will include:

• The multi-centre double-blind, double-dummy trial of the Russian-produced implant Prodetoxona, which is now complete. Follow-up results will be presented by Evgeny Krupitzky of St. Petersburg.
• Studies of the only currently available depot Naltrexone preparation (Vivitrol) in opiate abuse are now appearing and will be summarised by David Gastfriend of Alkermes.
• A Greek study (the world’s first) of changes in sexual function following successful opiate detoxification and prolonged opiate abstinence with supervised oral naltrexone. (It’s the first because success rates of conventional opiate detoxification and naltrexone induction are far too low to give sufficient patient numbers for a systematic ‘intention-to-treat’ approach, as in this case.)
• A progress report on the imminent British study at a leading neurophysiology centre, involving large diamorphine challenges to patients with naltrexone implants.
• Further studies of clinical experience with rapid benzodiazepine withdrawal from Prof. Jon Currie of Melbourne, Dr. George O’Neil of Perth and Dr. Peter Coleman of Virginia.
• Update on a nicotine vaccine that may have received a product licence by the time of the conference.
• Controlled studies of disulfiram in alcohol abuse from India and Germany and an update on long-acting preparations from Prof. Morris Faiman of Kansas.
• An audit of relapse-prevention after cannabis withdrawal using the cannabinoid antagonist rimonabant, indicating no exacerbation of depressive symptoms.

Additional programme details are available on the conference website, which will be updated regularly.

We invite further oral or poster presentations on these topics and related treatments, as well as on methadone or buprenorphine maintenance in a Greek context.

The conference is being organised in cooperation with Merimna S.A. and a scientific committee of academics and specialists. Merimna S.A. is a clinic that provides a variety of medical services located in Piraeus, Greece.

For further information or assistance kindly contact: Maria Hatzidakis, Development Manager, at: merimnaz@otenet.gr.