Ethanol and tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids do not produce narcotic discriminative stimulus effects

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Abstract
Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained in a two lever food-reinforced procedure to discriminate between the effects of saline and the synthetic narcotic analgestic fentanyl (0.04 mg/kg). After acquisition of this discrimination, generalization tests with morphine, ethanol and some tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids were conducted. The rats dose-dependently generalized the effect of morphine but did not generalize the effects of either ethanol, tetrahydropapaveroline, salsolinol or 3-carboxysalsolinol to the fentanyl discriminative stimulus. Thus, these data do not support a biochemical link between ethanol and opiates.