Does acupuncture work to treat drug addiction?
Acupuncture is widely accepted by medical professionals in the United States as a safe treatment for chronic pain.[13] Other applications for acupuncture, such as relief of asthma, arthritis, nausea, and morning sickness are being explored by the scientific community.[14] In the case of drug addiction, conclusive scientific evidence of acupuncture’s efficacy is scarce. A 1989 study published in the British journal The Lancet by Milton L. Bullock concluded that acupuncture was highly effective in treating alcoholism. Eighty severe recidivist alcoholics were treated, receiving either correct-point acupuncture or acupuncture at non-specific points on the ear. 21 of the 40 treatment group patients completed the two-month program, while only one of 40 in the control group did. The control group patients experienced twice as many relapses in the six months following the experiment and the number of control group patients admitted to detoxification centers was well over twice that of treatmen
