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About Methadone
 Methadone is a rigorously
well-tested medication that is safe and efficacious for the treatment
of narcotic withdrawal and dependence. For more than 30 years this
synthetic narcotic has been used to treat opioid addiction. Heroin
releases an excess of dopamine in the body and causes users to need
an opiate continuously occupying the opioid receptor in the brain.
Methadone occupies this receptor and is the stabilizing factor that
permits addicts on methadone to change their behavior and to discontinue
heroin use. Taken orally once a day, methadone suppresses narcotic
withdrawal for between 24 and 36 hours. Because methadone is effective
in eliminating withdrawal symptoms, it is used in detoxifying opiate
addicts. It is, however, only effective in cases of addiction to heroin,
morphine, and other opioid drugs, and it is not an effective treatment
for other drugs of abuse.
Methadone reduces the cravings associated
with heroin use and blocks the high from heroin, but it does not provide
the euphoric rush. Consequently, methadone patients do not experience
the extreme highs and lows that result from the waxing and waning of
heroin in blood levels. Ultimately, the patient remains physically
dependent on the opioid, but is freed from the uncontrolled, compulsive,
and disruptive behavior seen in heroin addicts.Withdrawal from methadone
is much slower than that from heroin. As a result, it is possible to
maintain an addict on methadone without harsh side effects. Many MMT
patients require continuous treatment, sometimes over a period of years.
Methadone maintenance
treatment provides the heroin addict with individualized health care
and medically prescribed methadone to relieve withdrawal symptoms,
reduces the opiate craving, and brings about a biochemical balance
in the body. Important elements in heroin treatment include comprehensive
social and rehabilitation services.
Source: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
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