Experts Criticise Methadone Study

{mosimage} Experts yesterday criticised a report that questions the use of methadone in drug abuse treatment and claims it helps fewer than 4% of heroin users kick their habit.

Professor Neil McKeganey, professor of drugs misuse research at Glasgow University, said that only 3.4% of drug users on methadone remained drug-free after three years. Residential rehabilitation has a higher success rate, he said.

He said: “If all you are doing is getting 3% of people off drugs after three years, you may say that it is a cheaper programme than residential rehabilitation, but is it justified when it gets so few people off?”

His report is based on interviews with 695 drug users who began treatment for addiction in 2001. Most were given methadone-based treatment, while some were placed in residential care. They were interviewed 33 months later to find out if, over a 90-day period, they had come off drugs.

Only 3.4% of methadone users were clean, but for those who had been in care the figure was 29%.

The Scottish Drugs Forum, the policy and information agency, described the report as “flawed, unhelpful and unrepresentative”, pointing out that nearly half of those surveyed were in prison and so had a more ingrained problem.

Susan Dean of the Scottish Drugs Forum said: “It completely misses the point to keep harping on about how useless it (methadone) is on its own. You have to go to the roots of what caused the particular heroin problem in the first place as part of a treatment package. Methadone has its place as long as it is supported by a package.”

Professor Richard Hammersley, director of the Centre for Behavioural Aspects of Health and Disease at Glasgow Caledonian University, said:”Abstinence is the ideal outcome here but we are not living in a world of perfection.

“Letting people die because they cannot be abstinent doesn’t seem very humane. Glasgow led the country in setting up a methadone programme, and it is about keeping an eye on people successfully.”

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde insisted methadone can be useful for many people but recognised it was not suitable for everyone. A spokesman said: “We are continuing to invest more resources in moving people on from the methadone programme on to rehabilitation, education and training, again as part of a wider package of support.”

The Scottish Executive said that there was no “one-size-fits-all” approach for those seeking to come off drugs.

A spokeswoman said: “We are committed to expanding the range of available treatment options. Methadone prescribing is just one option – an option that allows people to stabilise their lives long enough to think about the next stage. Residential treatment is another option.”

But Scottish Conservatives leader Annabel Goldie said: “Methadone, which is meant to be a bridge, is no such thing, as these findings sharply and disturbingly reveal. Clearly, the way forward if we are serious about reducing drug addiction in Scotland and helping to keep more people off drugs, is to expand rehabilitation facilities. Taking addicts off drugs is not just good for them, it is good for their families and the whole of society.”