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| FAQ on: What are the benefits of methadone maintenance? |
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What are the benefits of methadone maintenance?
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First and foremost, it dramatically reduces use of heroin and other illicit opioid drugs. A landmark study in the 1970’s, at the height of nation’s heroin epidemic, observed over 10,00 NYC patients in methadone treatment and found an 85% reduction in the number using heroin within the first year of treatment, 94% reduction among patients in treatment 3 years or more.*
Methadone Maintenance Treatment has been shown to improve life functioning and decrease heroin use, criminal behavior, drug use practices, such as needle sharing that increase HIV virus and HIV infection.**
Methadone treatment has positive outcomes for the individual being treated and for the community. The Institute of Medicine concluded that “methadone maintenance pays for itself on the day it is delivered, and post treatment effects are an economic bonus (Institute of Medicine, 1990).”
* Newman, R.G., Methadone Treatment I Narcotic Addiction. New York: Academic Press, 1977.
** Journal of American Medical Association, 2000 283.
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