What is methadone?

Methadone is a long-acting synthetic painkiller that mimics the effects of heroin, but is less addictive. It is widely used as a substitute for patients who are attempting to combat addiction to heroin. 

Like heroin, it produces feelings of euphoria and sedation, but to a lesser degree. The drug is usually provided to addicts under the supervision of a specially trained pharmacist or healthcare professional. It comes in the form of a green liquid. 

Methadone uses

Methadone is used as a way to wean addicts off heroin, but it can be addictive itself.

Doctors must first issue a prescription for the dose, specifying the amount, the days on which it can be administered, and restricting the person who can collect the methadone to the addict him or herself. Initially, a drug abuser is prescribed slowly increasing amounts of methadone to increase tolerance to the drug. Then the amount is slowly decreased until they are cured of the need for the drug altogether. However, some addicts are kept on a steady dose of the drug to avoid a return to heroin once the dosage drops. 

Methadone is also an effective painkiller, and is often used to ease moderate to severe pain in patients recovering from operations and serious injuries in injectable or tablet form. It is also used to ease the pain of terminal illnesses. A linctus is licensed for use in relief of coughing spasms in lung cancer. 

Risks of methadone

When methadone is taken in large amounts it produces side effects similar to heroin. These include drowsiness, apathy, confusion, nausea, vomiting, suppression of breathing reflexes and constricted pupils. In excessive quantities it will lead to coma and eventually to death. 

Some addicts become as reliant on methadone as they were on heroin. Department of Health figures show that methadone was responsible for the deaths of 421 people in 1997. Heroin addicts had created a vast methadone black market by selling on their doses for as little as £2. 

However, death rates are much reduced nowadays due to the implementation of supervised consumption of methadone, particularly in the early stages of treatment of heroin addiction. Over 1,500 drug related deaths were recorded in 2005, many more than those due to methadone overdose. 

Comprehensive guidelines by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Abuse on Drug Misuse and Dependence were published for the Department of Health in 2007.