Methadone heals, but methadone kills. Methadone is a life-saving treatment, but methadone is also a life-threatening poison. The challenge is how to confer the benefit without incurring the harm. And that is what this book is all about. Methadone is by far the most widely prescribed drug in the treatment of heroin addiction, and yet, all too often, we are clumsy in our use of this powerful drug. So how much of the observed benefit is to do with methadone itself? Does dose matter? How important is the psychosocial component of care? How can problems of poor compliance be addressed? Is supervised consumption feasible, and, if so, is it justifiable and beneficial? And what is injectable methadone all about? When is it ever prescribed, and for whom, and how? And what about the dangers? Methadone itself can be the actual drug of overdose. How successful have efforts been made to re-structure methadone treatment to prevent overdose deaths? and how can the problems of diversion to the illicit market be kept to a minimum?
This multi-authored book, comprising chapters from the best of clinicians, researchers and policymakers, is the essential guide to increasing the relevance and effectiveness of methadone treatment. Like it or loathe it, Methadone Matters.