Methadone concerns
Professor Neil McKeganey (pictured), Director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow, has said there needs to be a ‘full review’ to work out exactly how many people are on methadone. He also questions the long term use of methadone.
Professor Neil McKeganey (pictured), Director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow, has said there needs to be a ‘full review’ to work out exactly how many people are on methadone. He also questions the long term use of methadone.
His comments follow the case of a 34 year-old man who had received methadone for free from the state for nearly 20 years, despite admitting he had never given up heroin.
Drugs expert Prof McKeganey said: “Cases such as these, involving people who have been on methadone for such a long period of time, demonstrate the need for serious questions to be asked about what possible benefit the methadone programme has done for them.
“This is by no means an isolated case and it is clear that the system itself is addicted to supplying methadone to heroin addicts.” The individual in question had been receiving the state-funded drug every day since he was 16. He said: “Two years is the maximum anyone should be on a programme. After that there needs to be an intensive review of their treatment programme.”
Reported figures obtained from the Government said there were 19,632 prisoners on methadone as part of ‘maintenance programmes’ in 2008 - compared to 12,518 in 2007.
In the SPS Prisoner Survey 2009 ‘Drug Use & Drug Services’ it was revealed that 22% of prisoners reported they had used drugs in prison in the month prior to the survey, with a minority of prisoners (3%) reporting injecting drugs in prison in the month prior to the survey.
In 2008 the head of the Scottish Prison Service said jails in the country could hold an extra 1,400 prisoners if it wasn’t for the high number of inmates needing daily doses of methadone. It is thought there are 22,000 addicts who are given methadone in Scotland.
- Walking proof that methadone ‘is failing’ after 20 years on treatment (scotsman.com, 12 February 2010)
- Methadone numbers up in British prisons (30 November 2009)
- Methadone queues block prison places (08 October 2008)
- Methadone deaths overtake heroin in region of Scotland (20 August 2008)
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