Methadone ‘Fails To Tackle The Damage Of Drug Abuse’

Scotland’s reliance on methadone is failing to tackle the damage wreaked on society by drug abuse, it was claimed yesterday, as new figures showed a massive rise in the use of the heroin substitute.

A record 457,092 methadone prescriptions were issued to heroin addicts in 2005-6, compared with 408,877 the previous year and 45 per cent more than in 2001-2.

Methadone is intended to stabilise heroin users’ addiction, satisfying their desire for the drug while removing the need for them to resort to crime and prostitution.

But the efficacy of Scotland’s methadone policy was questioned last night as new figures showed a steady rise in drug-related crime in the past five years, with offences committed by addicts to service their habits increasing from 36,175 in 2001 to 42,150 this year.

The report also showed that the number of people convicted of drug offences more than doubled over the same period.

Professor Neil McKeganey, of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, said GPs were too reliant on methadone. In a recent report, he found that, three years after going on a methadone course, only 3 per cent of addicts remained totally drug-free.

Prof McKeganey said: “Methadone is being provided to far too many addicts for far too long. The problem with methadone is that people are still dependent on drugs.

“Our research has shown that methadone addicts continue to commit crime,” he added.

“Methadone does not appear to be the route to reduce harm associated with drug use.”

That provoked an angry reaction from Dr Richard Simpson, the former drugs minister and consultant psychiatrist who prescribes methadone to addicts.

He said: “There are patients on methadone for 20 years who are holding down very responsible jobs. All the international research on methadone shows it is a highly effective treatment for heroin addiction. Research has also shown that methadone leads to a reduction in deaths. Is that not reducing harm?.”

But he and Prof McKeganey agreed that the Executive had so far failed to provide enough treatment services to get people off drugs.

Labour sources have indicated an imminent policy shift away from managing addictions towards “cold turkey” approaches, and a pilot drug-abstinence programme in Edinburgh was launched in the autumn with £800,000 of Scottish Executive funding.

An Executive spokeswoman said yesterday: “We do not promote one type of treatment over another. We have been steadily increasing the range of options available.

“We are also undertaking a review of the place of methadone in drug treatment.”