Half of heroin addicts are dependent on alcohol

MORE than half of heroin addicts undergoing treatment are dependent on alcohol, new research shows.

The study suggests the addicts are replacing one drug for another.

The study also found high levels of mental illness among the addicts, with around half suffering from anxiety or depression.

Researchers interviewed 55 people on a methadone maintenance programme in Dublin and found:

n56% were dependent on alcohol

n56% had an anxiety disorder

n42% suffered from a depressive disorder

“The main finding of the present study was that of the 56% of respondents who drank, all showed some level of alcohol dependence,” said the report.

It said the average male was consuming 91 units of alcohol a week — far exceeding the recommended limit of 21 units for men.

The average woman was taking 56 units of alcohol a week — also greatly in excess of the recommended limit of 14 units for females.

“The mean daily amount of alcohol consumed (approximately eight units for women and 13 units for men) also placed alcohol users in the sample well above the safer limits of weekly alcohol consumption,” said the study.

“The findings indicate particularly high levels of alcohol dependence among this methadone maintenance treatment sample and may suggest a possible “substitution effect”. Clients may be replacing one substance, heroin, for another, alcohol.”

Researchers found most clients were consuming several different drugs, with almost a fifth taking between four and six substances, which they said posed a serious risk to their health.

It said a very high percentage suffered from anxiety or depressive disorders, much higher than the general population.

Some 42% had symptoms of clinical depression, compared with 10% of people attending GP surgeries.

“Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol use and psychopathology among methadone maintenance treatment clients must be warranted as well as increased screening for these disorders,” the report recommended.

The research was carried out by Edward MacManus, under the supervision of Clare Fitzpatrick, senior clinical psychologist at the Drug and AIDS Service, Cherry Orchard Hospital, Dublin.

The study was published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine.