B ETHESDA , M ARYLAND - heroin addicts need a easier access to methadone, a panel organized by the National Institutes of Health announced at a press conference today. The committee recommended that public and private health plans cover such treatment and that provincial and federal governments to increase funding for treatment with the synthetic opiate and allow more doctors to prescribe it.
Methadone has been used to treat addicts for over 3 decades, but only under strict federal and state laws that control the dosage and require those drug distribution for special licenses. Methadone affects the same pathways in the brain as heroin and other opiates, but more slowly. Therefore, it reduces the cravings of an addict and relieves withdrawal symptoms without causing a strong dramatic. Although some addicts are finally weaned from the drug, the group emphasized that addiction should be treated as a chronic disease. - Maybe needs a lifetime of therapy
After hearing the opinions of experts on the costs of addiction and about available treatments and their effectiveness, the 12-member group concluded that methadone - combined with counseling and other forms of support - should be considerably expanded to include more than 0,000 heroin addicts in the United States. Methadone "is the best treatment available," said committee chair and psychiatrist Judd Lewis University Medical School, San Diego, California.
The group recommended that the regulations on dosage and a special license be lifted, so that more doctors in private practice may treat patients addicted to opiates. The panel report indicates that concerns about abuse and illicit drug sales have been exaggerated.
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