TCM for quitting drugs,smoking >

[Former castleva]

I know acupuncture has been used so far.
What I´m interested in is the mechanism behind it,how does it/how is it supposed to work?
Rather curious (nope,not looking for relief)

[Xiao3 Meng4]

Depends on what the syndrome is, I guess.
For instance, a physical addiction might be treated differently than a psychological one. It might be liver stagnation, spleen dampness, or heart deficiency. Deficiency usually manifests as an attempt to replenish (fluid deficiency manifests in part as the patient wanting to gulp cold fluids), and many drugs fulfill the "emotional" requirement, thereby becoming crutches rather than medicine. Other drugs, such as marijuana, also have a dispersing effect, often on the liver. For stagnancy and fire, this is a good thing; however, marijuana is often consumed in a stagnant environment, and too much smoking can lead to lung qi deficiency, causing stagnancy.
In terms of dampness, an ingrained habit becomes chronic, and fluids are not properly separated and used/excreted. I'm not quite sure how this relates to addiction other than habit, but I think it may be related more to physical addictions. Also, spleen dampness comes with anxiety and oppression, which is a factor in obsessiveness.

Based on this, we can think of three treatment patterns:
Clear stagnation
Tonify deficiency
Resolve dampness

Also, I've heard that some addiction therapies involve inducing nausea when the patient indulges in his or her addiction. I don't know how this works... perhaps creating a yin deficient stomach based on the syndrome and the known effects of the drug?

Xiao3 Meng4

[Former castleva]

Thank you.

[Xiao3 Meng4]

Hope it Helps.

[Former castleva]

"Hope it Helps. "
He he,yeah.
I was interested in an alternative view considering the highly(neurological) nature of addiction/relation to these issues.

[Pilgrim]

Hi
Acupuncture by itself does not cure addiction.
True there are all sorts of zang fu diagnosises,based on all the red tipped tongues and midlined cracks I've seen there is definately a lot of liver yang rising , stomach yin deficiency, heart yin deficiency, with many folks having a root of liver and kidney yin deficiency. Of course what Xiao3Men4 said is also true. Acunpuncture and herbs are used in various prescriptions for addiction.
But acupucnture does not cure addiction.
Up there in Vancouver check out the dope fiends around China town and heading off in the direction of Shou Fu Liang's school. The prostitution, homelessness, domestic violence, unemployement, lack of education, lack of healthcare, the family or lack of family-I could go on. these are not cured by acupuncture and all the above and more are causes of addiction.
Acupucnture works partly because of the setting in which it occurs. A person lets another person touch them, put needles in them. Sure the neuro transmitters go off, the natural pain killers are relaeased, the chi gets harmonized. More info can easily be obtained from the journal of Substance Abuse or the National Acupuncture and Detox Asssociation.
Matter of fact I believe there is an acupuncture based drug treatment program around the corner from the Dakota Hotel. Believe me, some guy named Bill W. , now that's a guy who has helped addicts and alcoholics.

[Former castleva]

Thank you too for your effort.

[Repulsive Monkey]

Marijuana is also bad as a drug because it has a very warm heating effect and can cause an already heat based conditions to get worse. It also has terrible for the Kidneys and weakens Jing too, hence the continued use playing havoc with your sex life.

[Former castleva]

Thanks for info.