Methadone no cure-all for drug addiction

IT comes as no surprise to read that those on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programmes continue to use other illicit drugs.

Methadone, while easing the physical craving for heroin, does not fulfil the psychological craving of dependent drug-users for a ‘high’, so they will seek that in other drugs such as cocaine and cannabis.

Consequently, the ‘harm minimisation’ claimed by MMT programmes is severely diluted, but that fact will not appear in statistics published on the ‘efficacy’ of such programmes.

The public who fund these programmes should also be made aware that it is not unusual for those engaged on MMT programmes who are permitted to self-administer their doses to sell their supply in order to part fund the purchase of other drugs. That fact will not appear in the statistics either.

Peter O’Loughlin

Addictions Counsellor

The Eden Lodge Practice

Beckenham BR 3 3AT

London