Hope of cure for coke habit

SCIENTISTS have made a discovery that could help to treat cocaine addicts.

Tests on rats found a mutated gene – mGluR2 – produced more of the brain chemical glutamate, which removes the reward felt from taking the drug.

Dr Zheng-Xiong Xi, from the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, said: “A medicine to activate mGluR2 would decrease or significantly inhibit cocaine-taking.”

The study is published in journal Cell Reports.