There are few medications that are considered effective in treating drug addiction. Those are currently limited to the treatment of alcoholism, as well as opioid, and nicotine addiction. Please read the Alcohol and Teens article for information about the medications that manage alcohol addiction. Effective medication treatment for other addictions is primarily limited to address addiction to opiates and nicotine. Methadone, levo-alpha acetyl methadol (LAAM), and buprenorphine hydrochloride are non-sedating, non-intoxicating opiates that treat opiate addiction by preventing symptoms of withdrawal from heroin and other opiates. Naltrexone blocks the effects of opiates and is therefore useful in both treatment of overdose of opiates and in longer-term treatment. Nicotine addiction is often medically addressed by medications that replace nicotine in the form of patches, gum, or nasal spray. Buproprion, which was originally found to be an effective antidepressant, has been found to decrease patients' cravings for nicotine.