Pubdate: Fri, 04 Mar 2005
Source: North Shore Sunday (Beverly, MA)
Contact:  2005 Community Newspapers Inc.
Website: http://www.northshoresunday.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3465
Author:  Frank Carini
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

MOVE OVER, METHADONE?

While the use of methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin 
addiction, continues to be increasingly scrutinized, Essex County Sheriff 
Frank Cousins Jr. believes a new drug may soon make methadone obsolete. 
Suboxone  is a combination of two currently marketed medications, 
buprenorphine and  naloxone. It is designed to be used for the treatment of 
people with heroin and  opiate addictions. Additional studies are still 
being conducted. Suboxone  and Subutex were the first therapies approved 
for in-office prescribing under  the federal Drug Addiction Treatment Act 
of 2000. Subutex is given during the  first few days of treatment, while 
Suboxone is used during the maintenance phase  of treatment. Both 
medications are administered as tablets and placed under the  tongue.

"It takes  away a person's craving for heroin," says Cousins of Suboxone. 
"It could end up being a better option than methadone." For nearly  35 
years, methadone has been used to treat opiate addiction. In fact, about 
20  percent of the estimated 800,000 or so heroin addicts in the United 
States  receive methadone treatment, according to the Office of National 
Drug Control  Policy.

But in  recent years, both state and federal officials have expressed 
concerns that  methadone is being increasingly abused and is causing a rise 
in overdoses and  deaths.

"I'm not a  big advocate of methadone use," says Cousins.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager