Researchers at the Mexican National Institute of Psychiatry say they have successfully tested a vaccine to reduce the lethal drug addiction on mice and are preparing to test it on humans.
The vaccine, which has been patented in the US, makes the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoked or injected it.
Institute's director Maria Elena Medina said, "It would be a vaccine for people who are serious addicts, who have not had success with other treatments and decide to use this application to get away from drugs."
Mice were given access to deposits of heroin over an extended period of time. Those given the vaccine showed a huge drop in heroin consumption, giving the institute hope that it could also work on people.
