A lot of pop psychology has talked about addictive behaviors but a trial at the University of Minnesota says a drug used to treat alcoholism is also successful in treating compulsive gambling, reports the Los Angeles Times.

“The study is part of emerging evidence that gambling, once thought to be a problem in moral integrity, is instead a problem in brain biology and can be successfully treated,” Dr. Robert Freedman, editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry, tells the paper. The study appeared in the journal’s February issue.

It’s not a magic bullet though. The drug helped two-thirds of those in the study but the placebo was effective for a third in the control group. And it has to be used in conjunction with therapy and counseling.

The key is to take the compulsive thrill out of winning and losing. The new drug, nalmefene, interferes with brain opiate circuits that make gambling such a psychological high.

“Gambling itself is quite pleasant,” Dr. John Grant, the study’s lead psychiatrist tells the paper. “It is the fallout — bankruptcy, divorce, jail — that is unpleasant. It is difficult to keep people in treatment.”