Scientists are researching whether existing drugs such as Prozac, Ritalin, or blood pressure and anti-nausea medications can be used to treat alcohol and other drug addiction, the Associated Press reported Aug. 24.

Many of the research projects being conducted to find new drugs to treat addiction focus on existing drugs that are being used for some other medical condition. For instance, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is sponsoring human studies of 21 medicines already on the market to determine if they can be used to treat cocaine addiction.

The same approach is being used at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), where research into drugs to treat alcoholism over the past 10 years has included drugs that were previously approved for some other use.

The strategy has worked in the past. In 1997, the anti-smoking pill Zyban, chemically identical to the antidepressant Wellbutrin, was approved by the FDA.

Frank Vocci, director of NIDA’s pharmacotherapy division, said researching current drugs to treat addiction has several advantages. First, it’s less costly to obtain federal approval for a new use of an old drug and to bring it to market. In addition, the experience with the old drug in terms of dosage and side-effects helps predict possible anti-addiction effects.