Press Releases

» 31.05.2005 - TAVAD develops first computer game of drug use prevention in which cocaine is virtually used

 The player experiences cocaine effects during a motorcycle race in which he can virtually use cocaine.

 350.000 € have been invested in the research and development of this preventive tool, and 200.000 € more will be invested.

A Spanish team of scientists, at TAVAD (Advanced Addiction Treatments), has developed the first computer game in the world for the prevention of drug abuse by means of a virtual drug use game .

Dr. Juan José Legarda (inventor of the computer game) and his team have invested more than 4 years of research and 350.000€, plus 200.000€ for future developments. The result is a tool that lets the user to virtually feel the experience of tolerance and dependence to cocaine.

In order to achieve this object, new instructions have been applied to the software of an existing game to change this one into a tool that prevents drug use. It consists in race in which you have two options: “Drug free” or “with cocaine”. If player chooses the second one, the beginning of the race will be faster. However, a meter shows cocaine levels in the “player’s brain” and, during the race, the player needs to stop to “refuel” the drug, without which he cannot go on, so he wastes time and does not have any probabilities of winning.

In that sense, the computer game developed by TAVAD´s team acts as a psychological vaccine against drugs through the most familiar and well accepted tool used by youngsters, computer games. In addition, the user himself experiences the negative consequences of cocaine use, without risk because it is a virtual game avoiding any real contact with cocaine.

Other advantages of the game are its simplicity and accessibility: you can play it, free on TAVAD´s website (www.tavad.com) and you do not need a complex computer.

In summary, TAVAD displays a new and modern alternative in comparison to the other preventive actions that official organisms and institutions tried before to concern youngsters about the negative consequences of drugs.

Use among youngsters

Drug consumption among young people is continuously increasing. That is one reason why the professionals at TAVAD started investigating prevention.

It is important to point out that, during the last ten years, the number of adolescents, 14 to 18 years of age, who have used cocaine in our country has multiplied by four. Specifically, the rate of adolescents who have used this drug has gone from 2.5% to 9% (according to DGPNSD, the Spanish Observatory of Drugs). That increase is especially worrying not only because of the increase of users, but also because they are beginning at an earlier age.

The computer game developed by TAVAD uses a language and an interface which is appealing to younsters. In that sense, tests on this “virtual drug use by computer” have been conducted at public schools in Madrid, Tel Aviv and New York, with adolescents, 12-17 years old.

Above all, it is important to point out that youngsters stated that by playing with drugs you aren’t yourself. Thus, becoming a virtual addict for a short period of time is a very powerful deterrent to using drugs.

The results of these tests and the initial research phase of the game by TAVAD were presented on September, 2000 at the National Conference of Psychology of the United States (“Virtual drug use and virtual addiction”. Prevention of substance use problems: directions for the next millennium), and had great success.

About TAVAD

TAVAD (Advanced Addiction Treatments) was created in 1988 to treat the addiction to psychoactive substances, and to carry out scientific research to improve treatments and prevent use.

Nowadays, its methods are applied at hospitals in Spain and the US, and are spreading worldwide. Also, an extensive network of therapists cooperates with TAVAD and carries out the psychotherapeutic treatment in our country.

The TAVAD treatments focus on neuronal recovery, meaning, cerebral damage provoked by cocaine, heroin, alcohol and/or benzodiazepines (tranquilizers) use, and also on eliminating the patients’ withdrawal symptoms and suffering during a 3-5 day clinical phase and a one-year outpatient phase.

Success in the detoxification phase of these treatments is 100% (in some cases of dual pathology, effectiveness could not be 100%).

TAVAD collaborates in investigation, evaluation and popularization with Health Technologies Evaluation Agency (AETS), an organism dependent on the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, and with the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), dependent on the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology.

Download this Press Release in PDF format: Prevention against drug and cocaine use

ALEJANDRO LEIVA ( Psychologist, Master of Social Communication, Master of Drug Dependencies )
Communication Manager
Phone:  902 100 197

░ Media Contact

TAVAD desarrolla el primer videojuego de prevención contra la droga en el que se consume cocaína virtualmente (Español)