They have devised a vaccine that floods the body with an antibody to assault nicotine entering the body.
A study in mice, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed levels of the chemical in the brain were reduced by 85% after vaccination.
Years of research are still needed before it could be tested on people.
However, lead researcher Prof Ronald Crystal is convinced there will be benefits.
"As far as we can see, the best way to treat chronic nicotine addiction from smoking is to have these Pacman-like antibodies on patrol, clearing the blood as needed before nicotine can have any biological effect."
New approach
Other "smoking vaccines" have been developed that train the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to nicotine - it is the same method used to vaccinate against diseases. The challenge has been to produce enough antibodies to stop the drug entering the brain and delivering its pleasurable hit.
Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have used a completely different approach, a gene-therapy vaccine, which they say is more promising.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
If they start smoking again, they will receive no pleasure from it due to the nicotine vaccine, and that can help them kick the habit”
Prof Ronald CrystalWeill Cornell Medical College
A genetically modified virus containing the instructions for making nicotine antibodies is used to infect the liver. This turns the organ into a factory producing the antibodies.
The research team compared the amount of nicotine in the brains of normal mice with those that had been immunised. After being injected with nicotine, the vaccinated mice had nicotine levels 85% lower.
It is not known if this could be repeated in humans or if this level of reduction would be enough to help people quit.
Prof Crystal said that if such a vaccine could be developed then people "will know if they start smoking again, they will receive no pleasure from it due to the nicotine vaccine, and that can help them kick the habit".
He added: "We are very hopeful that this kind of vaccine strategy can finally help the millions of smokers who have tried to stop, exhausting all the methods on the market today, but find their nicotine addiction to be strong enough to overcome these current approaches."
'Impressive and intriguing'
There are also issues around the safety of gene therapy in humans that will need to be answered.
Professor of genetics at the University of Kent, Darren Griffin, said the findings were "impressive and intriguing with great potential" but cautioned there were still many issues which needed addressing.
He said the main issue "is whether the observed biochemical effects in lab mice genuinely translate to a reduced addiction in humans given that such addictions can be both physical and psychological".
Dr Simon Waddington, from University College London, said: "The technology underpinning gene therapy is improving all the time and it is encouraging to see these preliminary results that indicate it could be used to address nicotine addiction, which is damaging to the nation's health and a drain on the health service economy."
If such a vaccine was developed it could also raise ethical questions about vaccinating people, possibly in childhood, before they even started smoking.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain minute traces of alcohol, scientific research published in France has revealed. The revelation will cause concern among those who chose the carbonated soft drink for religious, health or safety reasons. According to tests carried out by the Paris-based National Institute of Consumption (INC) more than half of leading colas contain the traces of alcohol. Can't beat the real thing: The revelation will cause concern among those who chose the carbonated soft drink for religious, health or safety reasons These include the brand leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, while it is mainly only cheap supermarket versions of the drink which are alcohol-free. ‘60 Million Consumers’, the French magazine, publishes the results of the tests in its latest issue. They suggest that the alcohol levels are as low as 10mg in every litre, and this works out at around 0.001 per cent alcohol.
The war in Afghanistan has turned the country into a major supplier of the world's opium and heroin supplies. That is one of the facts offered by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in a report on how the drugs trade is fuelling insecurity and failed states, called 'Drugs, Insecurity and Failed States - the problems of prohibition'. One of the authors of the report Nigel Inkster, a former director of operations and intelligence of the British spy service, spoke to Radio Australia's Graeme Dobell. He said that ending drug prohibition would take a lot of criminal pressure off weak states, but in Afghanistan the drug problem is now a long-term factor in the country's future. "If the west were to decriminalise the use of heroin, and for example to make supplies available to addicts on prescription, this would erode, eventually, though not entirely eliminate the black market which confers so much of the value." "The value of the heroin trade really accrues to those who control the trafficking routes and that is where the big mark ups take place," he said. "I don't think there is a single magic bullet that would eliminate the nexus of security and drug problems that a country like Afghanistan faces. These problems have been a long time in the making and are going to be a long time in the resolving." He says that it is probable that involvement in the narcotics trade in Afghanistan will only increase after the NATO ISAF drawdown. "It accounts for probably 30 per cent of economic activity, and is likely to continue to do so, if not actually increase, after the 2014 NATO, ISAF draw down," he said. "The opportunities to earn money from embezzling western aid budgets will necessarily be reduced as those budgets are themselves." "There will be a smaller pot from which to take and in circumstances of growing political uncertainty, it seems to me almost inevitable that key actors, former warlords, who have the potential to become warlords again, will look to other earning capabilities, to hedge against a very uncertain future."
After the recent stream of disturbing news reports of people eating others' flesh, Hornaday Manufacturing has released bullets that promise to ‘make dead permanent.’
The ammunition, branded as Zombie Max offers Proven Z-Max bullets, is live ammunition, but is actually only intended for use on targets – not people.
Scroll down for videos
The Walking Dead: Hornady Manufacturing has started selling Zombie bullets, 'just in case'; it is live ammunition
Attacks: Carl Jacquneaux, left, who was arrested for allegedly biting another man's face and Brandon De Leon, right, who allegedly tried to bite two policemen while threatening to eat them
Hornaday spokesman Everett Deger told WWJ Newsradio 950 that the company’s president has a love of zombie culture – including popular shows like the Walking Dead – and was inspired to make the bullets in honour of the cultural phenomenon.
ON CLOUD NINE: BATH SALTS BY ANOTHER NAME... WITH STRONG COMPULSIONS TO REDOSE
The 'bath salts' sold under the name Cloud Nine are likely to be stimulant drugs such MPDV or ephedrine.
'Bath salts' does not refer to a single chemical, but instead to a range of synthetic drugs that can be sold legally in the U.S. as long as they are not marked for human consumption – hence the misleading name.
Drugs such as MPDV are highly potent stimulants, similar to some amphetamines, and in MPDV's case particularly, cause a strong compulsion to 'redose' with more of the drug.
In high doses, such drugs can cause violent and unpredictable behaviour, and terrifying hallucinations – and the compulsion to take more of the drug continues, even once the 'high' has begun to make the user feel bad.
Various different compounds use the name 'Cloud Nine', and it's still not confirmed which exact chemical was in the drug reported to have caused these attacks, but some reports have pointed the finger at MPDV.
The chemical is already illegal in Florida – although other 'bath salts' remain perfectly legal in the state.
‘We decided just to have some fun with a marketing plan that would allow us to create some ammunition designed for that…fictional world,’ he told the radio station.
Mr Deger noted that the bullets are some of the ammunition company’s most popular products.
The news comes as two more cannibal attacks have been reported in the US as police warn of a dangerous new mind-altering drug called Cloud Nine.
Last week Rudy Eugene - who is believed to have taken the over-the-counter ecstasy-like drug - growled at officers as he chewed off most of a homeless man's face before being shot dead by Miami police.
Since then two further incidents have been linked to the substance, which is part of a new line of 'bath salts'.
More...
Revealed: Miami cannibal's girlfriend shows herself in public for the first time and claims her beau was carrying a BIBLE before the attack
Caught on camera: The moment woman driver rams into pedestrian and travels for hundreds of yards with him clinging on 'because of her hormones'
Revealed: The videos 'Canadian cannibal' sent to his 'fans' while on the run from police - and one of them contains infamous song from American Psycho
The second occurred on Saturday when a snarling homeless man, identified as Brandon De Leon, threatened to eat two officers, echoing the Miami attack.
A third incident took place in Louisiana where Carl Jacquneaux, 43, bit off a chunk of his victim's face. Miami police have issued a warning about Cloud Nine and told their officers to exercise extreme caution when dealing with homeless men who appear to be acting unusually.
Police investigating the case of Rudy Eugene, who ate the face off a homeless man, say as well as being naked, he was carrying a bible.
Some pages had been ripped out of the book and were found close by, according to CBS Miami. A preliminary toxicology examination has also found that the 31-year-old had been smoked cannabis shortly before the incident.
They were forced to fit 21-year-old De Leon with a Hannibal Lecter-style mask after he was arrested for disturbing the peace in North Miami Beach. When put in a police cruiser De Leon slammed his head against the plexiglass divider and shouted at officers, 'I'm going to eat you', NBC Miami reported.
He then growled, gnashed his teeth and tried to bite the hand of an officer attempting to treat his head wounds.
'Brandon growled and opened and closed his jaw, slamming his teeth like an animal would,' the report said. Miami police said they believe he was on a cocktail of drugs, including Cloud Nine.
In a second case Carl Jacquneaux, 43, is accused of attacking Todd Credeur at his home in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after he became upset following a domestic issue.
Victim: Todd Credeur, though in shock, managed to spray his attacker in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face
Scene: Todd Creneur was attacked while working on the yard outside his home in Scott, Louisiana
KATC reported that Mr Credeur was working in his front yard when he was attacked.
Scott Assistant Police Chief Kert Thomas said: 'During the attack, the suspect bit a chunk of the victim's face off.'
Mr Credeur reportedly managed to spray Jacquneaux in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face.
Jacquneaux then allegedly left the home and went to another man's home where he held him at knife point and stole a hand gun. This is where police found him and arrested him.
A friend of the victim said she believes Jacquneaux was under the influence of Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene.
Eugene ate the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo in Miami last week and a police memo to officers has highlighted the dangers surrounding the drug's use.
It warned the De Leon case 'bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man's face'.
'Please be careful when dealing with the homeless population during your patrols.'
Police have suggested Eugene was under the influence of the synthetic stimulant usually sold in drug paraphanelia shops.
Cloud Nine is 'addictive and dangerous', the memo said, part of a 'disturbing trend in which new drugs are sold in the guise of household products'.
The drug, which is also as Ivory Wave in the U.S., comes in harmless-looking packets, police said, adding that it is illegal in Britain and Australia.
Crazed attack: Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene (left) when he savagely attacked 65-year-old Ronald Poppo (right)
The potentially addictive drug stimulates the central nervous system and symptoms include heart palpitations, nausea, hallucinations, paranoia and erratic behaviour.
The series of shocking incidents began on May 26 when a naked Eugene encountered his victim, 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, who was sleeping in the shade on elevated train tracks.
In surveillance footage from the nearby Miami Herald building, Eugene was seen struggling with the naked homeless man, throwing him to the ground and then tearing into his face with his teeth as cars and bicycles sped by.
About 18 minutes into the attack, an officer appeared on the scene and yelled at Eugene to stop, but the 31-year-old just growled at him and continued chewing Poppo’s face.
The officer then opened fire on Eugene, shooting him to death.
Enlarge
Horrific attack: The spot on MacArthur Causeway when a man was killed after chewing the face off a stranger
Disfigured: Poppo, here on a stretcher, miraculously survived the attack, but was left without a nose, mouth or eyes
Poppo remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital with his nose, mouth and eyes torn off. He faces months of treatment to rebuild his features and psychological care.
Controversially this week the scene of the attack on Poppo has been Miami added to sites visited by a tourist tour's itinerary.
The famous Miami Mystery & Mayhem: Crime Tour tour led by Miami-Dade College professor Dr Paul George will stop on the road that connects downtown Miami to popular South Beach.
Dr Paul told the South Florida Business Journal: 'Horrible as it was, it is part of our history. Currently, our tour takes us over the causeway right past the site, so this fits well.'
In a completely separate case not involving the drug, Canadian Luka Rocco Magnotta has been sent back to his country from Germany after an international manhunt.
He is alleged to have killed his partner, Jun Lin, before eating parts of his body then chopping it to pieces that were then posted to different authorities. Mr Lun's head has not yet been found.
'ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE': RECENT CANNIBAL ATTACKS ACROSS AMERICA
Since Rudy Eugene attacked and ate the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo on May 26 in Miami, Florida, while allegedly high on 'bath salts' there has been a spate of similar attacks.
The 'Miami Cannibal' case shocked the nation after police had to shoot dead Eugene when he refused to stop eating his victim's face off. Poppo is now recovering in hospital with horrific injuries.
Brandon DeLeon, 21, was high on drugs and drunk on Four Loko on June 2 when he tried to bite off a police officer’s hand after he was arrested for disturbing customers in a Miami fast food restaurant.
The homeless man repeatedly banged his head against the patrol car’s Plexiglas and yelled, ‘I’m going to eat you.’
At the police station, De Leon tried to bite the officer who was taking his blood pressure and tending to his self-inflicted wounds. The police report noted that he 'growled and opened and closed his jaw slamming his teeth like an animal would.'
Carl Jacquneaux, 43, is accused of attacking Todd Credeur at his home in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after he became upset following a domestic issue.
Mr Credeur reportedly managed to spray Jacquneaux in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face.
A friend of the victim said she believes Jacquneaux was under the influence of Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene.
Alex Kinyua, 21, a college student, used a knife to carve up Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, 37, before eating his heart out and parts of his brain.
He then took to his social networking site to boast about it to his friends saying: 'Are you strong enough to endure ritual HBCU mass human sacrifices around the country and still be able to function as human beings?'
He referred to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech and 'other past university killings around the country' and warned 'ethnic cleansing is the policy, strategy and tactics that will affect you, directly or indirectly in the coming months.'
Narcotic Cloud Nine was blamed for the attack when Rudy Eugene ate 75% of homeless man Ronald Poppo’s face in Miami last month.
Horrific images surfaced of the attack that only ended once police shot and killed 31-year-old Eugene.
Mr Poppo is still recovering from his injuries in hospital.
Police are now warning people to stay away from Cloud Nine – also known as ‘bath salts’ - after two similar attacks were reported.
The most recent prompted an internal memo to police warning officers the case “bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man’s face”.
The memo called the synthetic drug “addictive and dangerous” and said it was part of a “disturbing trend in which new drugs are sold in the guise of household products”.
It added: “Please be careful when dealing with the homeless population during your patrols.”
Rudy Eugene, 31: Ate 75% of a man's face in Miami before being shot dead
AP
Brandon De Leon, 21: Tried to bite two police officers after he was arrested in North Miami BeachCarl Jacquneaux, 43: Bit a man's face in Scott, Louisiania. Wasp spray was used to end the attackAlex Kinyua, 21: Accused of eating the heart and brain of friend in Maryland
Splash
Horror: Film cannibal Hannibal Lecter
Channel 5
During the latest attack homeless Brendon De Leon threatened to eat two Miami police officers and had to be fitted with a Hannibal Lecter-style mask to prevent him carrying his threats out.
He had been arrested for disturbing the peace in North Miami Beach while high on drugs and put in a police cruiser when he slammed his head against the plexiglass divider and shouted: “I’m going to eat you” to officers before growling and baring his teeth.
Miami police said they believe he was on a cocktail of drugs including Cloud Nine.
In another case, Carl Jacquneaux, 43, was accused of attacking Todd Credeur in his front garden in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after being upset over a domestic issue while under the influence of what is said to be bath salts.
Jacquneaux bit Mr Credeur before being sprayed in the face with wasp spray.
Scott Assistant Police Chief Kert Thomas said: “During the attack, the suspect bit a chunk of the victim’s face off.”
Jacquneaux was then said to have left the property and gone to another man’s home where he held him at knife-point and stole a handgun before being apprehended by police.
The drug, which is also known as Ivory Wave, was blamed for several deaths in Britain during 2010 before being banned. It is also illegal in Australia.
The potentially addictive drug stimulates the central nervous system and symptoms include heart palpitations, nausea, hallucinations, paranoia and erratic behaviour and is often sold in plain packaging with the contents purporting to be harmless.
Steven Liga, the Executive Director of the Middlesex County Chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence says, “Heroin has been the drug of choice all over Jersey for several years now for – because we’ve got the purest heroin in the country – it’s shipped to Jersey from south and central America – and then distributed all over the east coast – so our heroin is purer and cheaper than in other parts of the country.” He says, “We can get heroin here that’s in the 90 percent purity range- whereas somebody in North Carolina might get 35 percent pure…and because it’s so pure, you can use it nasally – you can snort the drug – instead of having to use a needle – so ours is cheaper, it’s more pure, and for at least your initial period of use, you don’t need to use a needle.” Liga adds, “People who start out with prescription drugs – if they become addicted and suddenly can’t get it from their doctor any longer – getting those prescription drugs on the street or online is very expensive – heroin will give the same effect for much cheaper…so what happens is some people can’t afford to keep the prescription drug habit- so they have to switch to a more economical drug – and in New Jersey that would be heroin.” He points out, “Our heroin is so pure that you can snort our heroin – very much like you could snort cocaine…as your tolerance gets greater then you may have to move to a needle – but in Jersey since you can start snorting heroin – that reduces the stigma considerably – when people are going to switch to a drug, most folks at least early in their addiction say, ‘Well, I would never use a needle.’” Liga points out, “You can start off snorting the heroin, but over time as your tolerance grows, that’s not going to be enough…so at some point you will switch to that needle…and if you do overdose, that can shut down your entire respiratory system – so you essentially go to sleep and never wake up…if it’s too much…their body can’t process it, it shuts down that central nervous system -the part of the system that does the autonomic things like breathing and heartbeat.”
"Teen Mom" reality star Amber Portwood is heading to prison for up to five years, after giving up on a drug rehab program, gossip website TMZ reports. Portwood, 22, was sentenced in February to three years in an Indiana prison for possessing prescription drugs without a prescription, and another two years for a probation violation. A plea deal allowed her to avoid prison and instead pursue treatment at a rehab facility. But after three months in the rehab program, Portwood called it quits and decided to opt for prison, E! News reports. Pursuant to "Teen Mom's" Amber Portwood's request, a judge reimposed her five-year prison sentence Tuesday, according to TMZ. "The judge said he would refer Amber to the Indiana Department of Corrections therapeutic community program -- an incarceration-based treatment program," TMZ reports. Prison-based drug treatment programs, which "focus on treating addiction as well as addressing criminal thinking," are available in at least four Indiana prisons. "Preparing offenders for successful and sober re-entry into the community is the primary goal," according to the Indiana Department of Corrections' website. Though Portwood's sentence is five years, she could get credit for "good time" if she behaves behind bars, according to E! News. Indiana prison policy allows "good time" credits to reduce a prisoner's sentence by up to four years, or one-third of a prisoner's sentence, whichever is lesser. "Teen Mom" Amber Portwood was in court Tuesday morning when a judge reimposed her five-year prison sentence. It's not clear when that sentence will begin.
Coffee drinkers are woefully ignorant of the dangers lurking in their cup, a new report warns. Consumers should be provided with information about the caffeine content of their takeaway latte or espresso since most are unaware of how it varies in strength from shop to bar or from cup to mug. Pregnant women, as well as people with health problems, need to limit their caffeine intake. Evidence suggests there is a risk of poor foetal growth and miscarriage linked to caffeine consumption of more 300mg a day. "For some, coffee is a problematic commodity because it is sold without information about caffeine, or a warning if it contains a lot," said Professor Mike Lean, head of human nutrition at Glasgow University, who wrote the report. "At present, there is almost no information on the caffeine contents of the various types of commercially prepared coffees." He called on the Food Standards Authority to carry out a national study of the range of caffeine contents, reasons for variations and consumption habits to improve information for consumers. Writing in the current issue of the medical journal Maturitas, he warns that the caffeine content of some coffees can be six times higher than others. The report follows a survey on a sample area of shops in Glasgow which found that the caffeine content of espresso coffee, routinely used to make latte and cappuccino, varied widely, from 51mg to 322mg a cup.
The man is strapped onto a gurney and restrained, yet he is singing, making faces and twitching. “You know where you’re at?” a paramedic asks him, but Freddy Sharp can’t answer. He was, he explained later, off in his own world after overdosing on synthetic drugs known as “bath salts.” “I’d never experienced anything like that,” Sharp told CNN’s Don Lemon. “It really actually scared me pretty bad.” He said he was hallucinating about being in a mental hospital and being possessed by Jason Voorhees, the character from the “Friday the 13th” movies. “I just felt all kinds of crazy,” said Sharp, now 27, of Tennessee, who says he hasn’t used bath salts in months. “It felt so evil. It felt like the darkest, evilest thing imaginable.” The drug made national headlines recently after a horrific crime in Miami, where a naked man chewed the face off a homeless man in what has been called a zombie-like attack. Video footage captured by surveillance cameras on the nearby Miami Herald building shows the 18-minute attack, which ended when police shot and killed a man identified as Rudy Eugene, 31. The footage shows a man walking along a sidewalk and stopping in a shaded area created by the tramway bridge. He apparently attacks the victim, dragging him out from the shade, stripping the victim’s clothes off and beating him as the victim kicks his legs in an apparent attempt to fight back. He then spends several minutes crouched over the victim. “The guy just kept eating the other guy, like ripping his skin,” witness Larry Vega told CNN affiliate WSVN. Police told CNN affiliate WPLG that when officers arrived and told him to stop, the man growled like an animal and continued eating the victim’s face. Overheard on CNN.com: Are we all ‘zombies’? Authorities said they suspected the attacker was under the influence of bath salts. The victim is in critical condition at a Miami hospital. Not the same substance used to scent your bathwater, bath salts contain amphetamine-like chemicals such as methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and are sold as “cocaine substitutes” or “synthetic LSD.” Its effects include paranoia, hallucinations, convulsions and psychotic episodes. Why ‘bath salts’ are dangerous “This is a terrible drug because it takes a combination of methamphetamine, and the paranoia and the aggressiveness, and LSD, the hallucinations, and PCP, the extreme paranoia that you get, combines it into one, and has unpredictable effects on human behavior,” Paul Adams, an emergency room doctor in Miami, told CNN. The drug remains legal in some states, although many others have taken steps to ban the substances. But sometimes, when one chemical used in bath salts is banned, another chemical is substituted to skirt the law, said attorney Alex Manning. “People are making this stuff out of household products, stuff that’s in their kitchens,” she said. It can take “five or six grown men” to restrain a bath salts user, she said. “It’s PCP on crack.” And cases are on the rise, Adams said. Police in Panama City, Florida, said last year they had seen two violent incidents linked to use of bath salts. In one, a woman allegedly tried to behead her 71-year-old mother; in the second, a man on bath salts used his teeth to tear up the back seat of a patrol car. Sharp said he never felt the urge to “eat anybody’s flesh” while under the influence of bath salts, but noted, “You feel like you’re 10 feet tall and bulletproof, and you actually do not feel any pain.” He said he himself “just got paranoid.” But he said his overdose — was a turning point, describing it as “Fear. Darkness. It felt like impending doom was coming down on me … I felt like I was about to bust loose and actually hurt somebody.” He recalled trying to calm himself unsuccessfully. “I felt like if I lost that control, anything could happen,” he said. The experience, he said, was the worst of his life. And coming off the drug was also difficult, he said. Besides the withdrawal, “whenever it comes out of you, you can smell it in your hair. It’s so nasty.” He described the smell as a “unclean, nasty, unkempt, chemically-type smell.” Asked what he would say to other users, Sharp said, “The only thing I can say to them is that if you value your life, you’ll stop it and you won’t do it anymore, because it will destroy your life. It will destroy your family. It will destroy everything.”
