It has especially been found to be successful at treating heroin withdrawal symptoms and thus originally was popular on the street before also becoming a recognized treatment used in hospitals. A study lead by Vincent Dole of Rockefeller University discovered that drug addiction was a disorder and thus needed to be treated like a disease as opposed to a psychological or character flaw. Thus, methadone maintenance therapy has been used as a successful, albeit controversial, form of medicine-based treatment of drug addicts.
Typically methadone is administered in a highly regulated methadone clinic. According to a 2004 review, the reason methadone is effective is that "it retains patients in treatment and decreases heroin use better than treatments that do not utilize opioid replacement therapy." Because methadone is similar to heroine, it actually reduces the need to use heroine, one of the leading causes for addicts to leave drug recovery programs.
The use of methadone and methadone clinics...
Since heroin addiction and withdrawal are dangerous, if not deadly, activities, using methadone to treat the addiction is the lesser of two evils. Although methadone is a potentially addictive drug in and of itself, because it has shown to be effective and because it is administered in highly regulated facilities, ultimately it is a preferred approach to drug addiction treatment.
Michels II, Stover H, Gerlach R. (2 Feb. 2007): "Substitution Treatment for Opioid Addicts in Germany." Harm Reduction Journal. 4-5.
Robertson JR, Raab GM, Bruce M, McKenzie JS, Storkey HR, Salter a. (1 Dec. 2006): "Addressing the Efficacy of Dihydrocodeine vs. Methadone as an Alternative Maintenance Treatment for Opiate Dependence: A Randomized Controlled Trial." Addiction. 1752 -9.
