Money as a tool to extinguish conditioned responses to cocaine in addicts

Classical conditioning principles offer a nondrug way to treat cocaine dependence. Eleven male subjects with the primary diagnosis of cocaine dependence were placed into one of two groups. The experimental group was asked to handle $500 cash in a mock budgetary task. The control group was asked to just imagine handling and budgeting the money. The subjects rated their craving-related feelings before and after each task. The experimental group showed significantly more craving after the money-handling task as compared to the control group, and the scores improved with time and as more tasks were completed. These data show that craving induced by handling cash is powerful and can be attenuated, at least on a short-term basis, using classical extinction procedures.