Effectiveness of Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Methadone Maintenance Treatment, or MMT, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat and manage withdrawal from heroin, morphine or similar opiates. Many opiate addicts choose MMT since it manages their addiction, thus "maintaining" their freedom from withdrawal and their risky search for illegal opiate drugs through illicit means.
According to the White House's website on drug policy, methadone treatment is indeed effective for managing withdrawal and preventing relapse into illegal opiate use. MMT's effectiveness in managing opiate addiction manifests in a variety of ways.

Effects

• Methadone is a synthetic opioid, a narcotic with painkilling properties similar to morphine or oxycodone. It has a long duration of action, according to the FDA, longer than that of other opiates or synthetic opiods.
  When used as a maintenance treatment, methadone prevents the opiate addict from going into withdrawal by occupying the brain's opiate receptors, while at the same time blocking them from being occupied by other opiates. This is particularly effective in addicts who previously used heroin intravenously, as methadone prevents the "rush" or the "high" most heroin users crave and is considered effective in preventing relapse.

Features

• Another facet of MMT's effectiveness lies in its legality and strict regulation by the FDA, in cooperation with state agencies. Many users of methadone visit a clinic daily to receive their precisely measured dose, although some clinics will allow patients to take home several doses at a time--but both methods are carefully monitored by the licensed methadone clinic. This regulation is effective in keeping addicts from seeking other potentially dangerous drugs on the street and to make sure their dosage is correct and consistent.

Benefits

• For some opiate addicts, MMT is a major health benefit. Intravenous users of street heroin in particular are at risk for serious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis, to name a few. By undergoing a maintenance treatment with methadone, these addicts are able to take their dose in a pill or as a liquid--far safer than using a needle, which may be shared between users and spread disease. Also, the consistent dosage of methadone given out in MMT is a barrier against accidental overdose on street opiates that may be very pure, or contain other dangerous substances.

Expert Insight

• According to an analysis found on the White House's fact sheet on MMT, the treatment is cost effective as well for both the addict and to society. It is considered more cost effective to take a treatment approach to opiate addiction rather than a punitive one of incarceration. MMT is also effective in bringing money that would be spent illegally on street drugs into the community and government, and thus is effective to a certain degree in reducing the market for illegal drugs.

Considerations

• As effective as MMT is in managing opiate addiction, it is certainly not a "cure" for the problem of opiate addiction. It is important for an addict to consider and understand the fact that methadone is just as addictive as heroin or morphine and produces withdrawal symptoms that rival those of the street drugs, before beginning MMT.
  Some treatment centers offer a detox option, where the addict is given methadone and the dosage is reduced slowly to wean the person completely away from opiate use. Although this is preferable from a medical standpoint, MMT prevents relapse by maintaining the user who may otherwise return to street opiate use.