Volume 1 Issue 1 - February 2006

by Attilio D'Alberto

Cocaine abuse is a serious problem in Europe, with the UK recorded as having one of the highest incidences of abuse rates in recent years, with a similar prevalence rate to the USA (E.M.C.D.D.A. 2004). Auricular acupuncture has been used as an effective form of treatment for drug abuse since the early 1970s when Wen and Cheung (1973a, 1973b, 1973c) found it to be effective in the treatment of heroin addiction. During the 1980s Michael Smith and his partner Walter Bosque, developed an auricular acupuncture protocol at the Lincoln hospital in New York's South Bronx area. This later developed into the auricular acupuncture system, the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) protocol.