TREATMENT OF CRACK-COCAINE-INDUCED COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR WITH TRAZODONE

Foraging is a compulsive behavior of searching for pieces of crack coc aine that the individual believes might have been accidentally misplac ed. Three clinical cases of compulsive foraging behavior associated wi th crack cocaine are described. Due to the development of side effects secondary to the antidepressant desipramine, the patients were switch ed to the antidepressant trazodone. The use of trazodone led to remiss ion of the foraging behavior. The authors hypothesize this remission w as due to trazodone serotonin reuptake inhibitory action. In all three cases, the patients did not relapse into abusing crack cocaine.