METHADONE A DEADLY DIVERSION IN REGIOn

There's an insidious predator called methadone in town.

Harmless, even helpful, to hardened heroin addicts, it can be deadly for
young folks looking to party.

Three Kitchener residents, aged 13, 15 and 22, have died in the last two
months after taking street drugs.

Waterloo regional police are waiting for toxicology reports before
confirming the drug or drugs to blame for the deaths.

But officials can't afford to wait for paperwork to warn kids about the
risk they run if they think methadone is a relatively harmless high.

Both police and health professionals are concerned about what appears to be
a booming black market in illegal methadone available to thrill seekers.

When used properly, under a doctor's supervision, the drug helps addicts
deal with the overwhelming craving that is the hallmark of heroin.

They don't get a high from the stuff, but it apparently subdues the desire
enough to allow addicts to pursue a more normal lifestyle.

In an ideal circumstance, a person on methadone can hold down a job instead
of breaking into homes to feed the monkey on his back.

Doctors at methadone clinics -- there are two in the region -- write
prescriptions for the drug and patients get them filled at pharmacies.

All well and good.

But problems ensue if patients decide to sell their methadone instead of
taking it.

Dr. Jeff Daiter told The Record methadone sells for a dollar a milligram on
the street, meaning an addict with a prescription to carry home six
100-milligram doses is sitting on a tidy little bundle of cash if he
chooses to sell some.

The good doctor -- who deserves credit for working in a tough field --does
his best to make sure the methadone he prescribes doesn't end up on the street.

But if it does and it is taken by a curious fun-seeker, he says a
50-milligram dose could be deadly. Even less might kill if the methadone is
washed down with alcohol.

Mary Wilhelm, head of the detox unit at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener,
is also worried about the availability of illegal methadone.

In an interview last week, she had this to say:

"Your average Joe kid has never had it in (doses prescribed to heroin
addicts) and it just shuts down their respiratory system and kills them."

OK, I'm scared.

Is enough being done to make sure heroin addicts aren't selling their
methadone to kids?

Doesn't look like it, but let's worry about placing blame later.

Right now public health officials, educators and parents need to do
whatever they can to get the message out.

Methadone is a deadly diversion.