As opioid-related deaths began shifting from prescription drugs to heroin in 2012, Laura Vaughn set out to find safer pain treatments. In 2017, research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse identified several compounds that reduced pain in mice without causing the respiratory depression that can make opioid overdoses fatal. One of the most promising compounds, SR-17018, later became popular among some people seeking to stop using opioids—but a late-August decision by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to classify it as a Schedule I controlled substance could make further research far more difficult.
Vaughn and other scientists described their findings in the journal Cell. Their experiments suggested that SR-17018 could reduce pain in mice without causing respiratory depression. The researchers also found that the mice did not quickly develop a high tolerance to the compound.
In another experiment, mice that were already dependent on the powerful opioid morphine appeared to reset their tolerance after taking SR-17018, without experiencing painful withdrawal symptoms.
Vaughn, senior vice president for research at the University of South Florida Health, said her team has applied for a patent on SR-17018. She is also attempting to organize a human clinical trial, although the compound has never been tested in humans.
From laboratory compound to online drug
SR-17018 has moved beyond the laboratory. On Reddit and Discord, people who use drugs frequently describe the compound as a “godsend” that helped them stop using opioids to which they were addicted.
Until recently, the compound was not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Because it was not a federally controlled substance, it was relatively easy to purchase online. However, there is no clinical evidence that SR-17018 works in humans.
That changed in late August, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration urgently classified SR-17018 as a Schedule I controlled substance. The classification places it in the same category as heroin, which the federal government defines as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
For Vaughn, the decision threatens the research she had planned. “It’s really bothersome,” she told WIRED. “At this point, I would like to have it tested for additional safety studies, but I can’t get it manufactured, shipped, or even touched. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
The scheduling also removes an option for people who hoped to use SR-17018 to taper off opioids, despite the lack of human evidence showing that it is effective.
A history of opioid dependence
Jim Bates has been addicted to several opioids—including prescription drugs, heroin and fentanyl—since he was 25. About two years ago, the 53-year-old kitchen manager from Duncan, Oklahoma, became dependent on 7-OH, a concentrated compound in kratom that activates opioid receptors in the brain.
“That shit drove me crazy,” Bates said. He was introduced to 7-OH at a vape store and described the experience by saying, “It was like heroin.”
Source: www.wired.com
