FEW HEROIN ADDICTS RECEIVE METHADONE

Drug abuse treatment Deathrates are high among Swedens heroin
addicts. There is an effective treatment that often frees the addict
from the craving of heroin. But despite the fact that methadone in
scientific studies shows good results, politicians hesitate. A lot of
experts are critical and demand new rules.

A government study shows that methadone is an effective method to
help heroin addicts. But today only 650 of the more than 5000 heroin
addicts receive methadone.

- -It is unacceptable Leif Gr-nbladh, head of the methadone program in
Uppsala, says.

The National board of health and welfare might consider to relax the
strict rules.

This tuesday the Government committee for medical evaluation (SBU)
presented a report that among other things states that methadone
treatment is effective in treating heroin addiction.

Leif Gr-nbladh is head of the methadone program in Uppsala, which is
one out of four methadone treatment centres in the country. The
remaining three are in Stockholm, Malm- and Lund.

He takes the SBU-report for mortgage that the treatment has to be
given more room.

- -It would be scandalous if that was not to happen. The SBU-report has
a strong scientific material that shows the effectiveness of
methadone.

It is the National board of health and welfare that controls the
methadone programs. Chief director Bengt Wennermark is the person on
the board who knows the most about methadone. He doesn't think there
is a central problem.

- -The National board of health has not limited the number of patients
that receive treatment. The issue has never been the limitations. The
problem has been that the county councils lack of commitment to get
addicts in to treatment.

Today there are room for 800 persons in the methadone program, of
which 150 are not filled.

What stands in the way to fill these vacancies are the demands that
are placed to get accepted, Wennemark says. A heroin addict must have
at least four years of iv-heroin abuse behind him, he can not be a
multiple drug user, has to be at least 20 years old, have tried and
failed drug-free treatment, and not be in prison.

- -And the National board of health have this far generally been on
terms with the present regulation with the profession, says
Wennermark.

Leif Gr-nbladh partly agrees, but believes the resistance against
methadone still is large in society. The reason to the unwillingness
against methadone is that it doesn't have any political support.

- -Sweden has the drug-free society as a goal. Then it is so hard to
support a medicine that is a narcotic drug, that one regards oneself
to send out the wrong signals if you support something that is
considered to be part of the world of drug abuse.

He himself believes that the view is incorrect. Methadone should be
regarded as a medicine, nothing else.

Bengt Wennermark says that the SBU-report will be an important
foundation of knowledge for future guidelines regarding different
forms of treatment. This might come to mean a change in regulation
for the methadone program.

- -This fall we will make a new set of rules that possibly will make
the regulation for methadone less forceful than it has been so far.

In two to three weeks the National board of health will publish a
report on heroin addicts in methadone treatment to the government.
The report will partly underlie the narcoticpolitic proposition that
the government will publish in December.

Minister of health and social affairs Lars Engqvist does not want to
comment the SBU-report, and the demand of increased methadone
treatment for Swedens heroin addicts, before the work on the
proposition.