Methadone Treatment for Heroin Addiction

¶ … Methadone Treatment for Heroin Addiction

The Pros and Cons of Methadone Treatment for Heroin Addiction

Methadone, a synthetic opiate, has been used as an effective and relatively safe treatment for heroin addiction for more than 35 years. It has a number of advantages and disadvantages. This brief paper describes both these pros and cons.

Pros

Methadone effectively reduces craving for heroin by occupying the opioid receptor in the brain. Since craving is the major reason for relapse in most heroin addicts, methadone treatment has a high success rate ("Methadone: Fact Sheet," 2000).

If taken in the prescribed dose, methadone does not have intoxicating or sedating effects; hence it does not interfere with every-day activities such as driving or operating machinery. It is generally considered to be medically safe for long-term use and significantly improves the quality of life of former heroin addicts, enabling them to lead stable and productive lives (Ibid.)

Methadone's effect lasts four to six times longer than that of heroin; hence once-a-day dose is enough for treatment, which is easy to administer and maintain. Moreover, as methadone is usually taken orally, it has a significant positive effect on the spread of HIV / AIDS infection, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted diseases.

Since methadone is much cheaper than heroin and is a legal drug, former addicts on methadone therapy are no longer required to live a life of crime to support their habit. It also enables the former addict to move away from the drug culture of drug dealers, fellow "druggies" and criminals, increasing his/her chances of a normal life. Some studies have suggested that such treatment has a cost benefit ratio of 4:1 for the society, i.e., every dollar spent on methadone treatment, yields $4 in economic benefits. (Ibid.)

Methadone is known to reduce the narcotic effects of heroin and other opiates, i.e., patients being treated with methadone do not feel the euphoric high of a heroin 'hit.' This is a major deterrent against the use of heroin for a methadone user as almost every heroin user shoots up to experience the euphoria.

Cons:

Methadone use has a number of side-effects such as constipation, sweating, loss of libido, sleep disturbance, weight gain, dental problems, vomiting, and serious bowel problems. While most of the side-effects are reduced or managed by controlled prescription, they can occasionally be severe enough to affect a person's health sufficiently for him to discontinue treatment (Withers, 1999)

One of the 'advantages' of methadone, i.e., it blocks the euphoric high of heroin can also become a disadvantage at times, as many addicts under methadone treatment miss the 'high' of heroin and could overdose themselves for the sake of experiencing the euphoria.