limitations of animal testing, socio-emotional

[Thanat0s]

mods, i dont know where best to place thisquerry, please move for more response if advantageous...

so ive been given the task of writing up a brief paper for the doctor in my bupe implant study. id like some input from my fellow 'philes...

topic: Animal testing, limitations.

the spark to this topic was buprenorphone testing. Now i personally see quite a few discrepancies and limitations in the animal testing model when dealing with a medication that treats a problem as complex as opiate addiction. top on the list are the socio-emotional differences between animals and people, the 'motivations' for use(of the illicit substance), ie: the 'self awareness' humans possess concerning their drug use that animals do not, the family and friends factors, societal pressures/views, and financial issues.

of course a human choosing to use has a much more complex set of influence over a monkey in a cage with the food and the heroin button to push... while animal testing is effective when limited to the pharmacological aspect of the drug in question, it falls short obviously in many other areas.

id love any and all thoughtsyou guys could give me to explore. what issues do YOU think we face that the animal model does not address? how can it be improved? what are your thoughts on bupe treatment? both detox and maintinence? any questions im missing? i will be submitting my findings tomorrow so swift responses will be best. just anything off the top of your head, ill do the research etc.

thanks guys!