Scottish methadone policy review to be published

An expert group set up to review the use of methadone to treat heroin addicts in Scotland is to publish its recommendations.
The group was asked by the Scottish government last year to review the effectiveness of a range of drug treatments, including methadone.

Methadone has been at the heart of drug treatment strategies since the 1980s.

But its use has been widely criticised by recovering addicts and drugs workers.

The independent group has been gathering evidence on opioid replacement therapies – where heroin users are offered an alternative drug.

It was commissioned in the wake of concern over the role of methadone in drug-related deaths. Almost half of those who died had been using the heroin substitute.

Methadone is by far the most widely used opioid replacement, with more than 20,000 patients receiving it last year, but some users take it for years without being weaned off it altogether.

There are alternatives, including prescribing medical heroin, but many in the drugs field say the debate should move away from these to an examination of how the wider needs of drug users can be met.

This would include ensuring users an access treatment speedily – and that if methadone is prescribed, patients are given an appropriate dose which is regularly reviewed.