DRUG'S MANAGERS DEFEND HOME USE OF METHADONE

Hamilton - Managers of methadone programmes have hit back at criticism
for not controlling the prescription drug, following the death of a
man who experimented with it.

Marcus Binzegger of Hamilton died after he and friend William
Rutherford injected themselves twice with the controlled class-B drug
on March 10. Rutherford was convicted on Monday for using the drug and
ordered to undergo supervision for an assessment of his drug use.

Mr Binzegger's death has led to concern over availability of the
powerful synthetic drug, which is given to registered opiate addicts
for treatment. For non-addicts, such as Mr Binzegger, the drug can be
fatal because of the body's lack of resistance to it.

Police suspect the pair obtained the drug from an authorised user
before buying disposable syringes at Hamilton's Anglesea St needle
exchange service.

Mr Binzegger's parents, Urs and Rosina, have criticised the apparent
easy availability of the drug, in particular the practice of allowing
some patients to take quantities home with them.

On his Radio Pacific breakfast show yesterday, former National Police
Minister John Banks claimed that the Waikato's methadone programme was
out of control.

But Vicki Crarer, of Specialty Services Mental Health, which
administers methadone to 195 users in the Waikato and Coromandel
regions, said criticism of the programme was unjustified.

She said that although a few users were allowed to take the drug away
from where it was dispensed, most had to drink their methadone on the
spot.

"The programme is not just about controlling their addiction, it's
about normalising their life. Having someone constantly wandering down
to the local pharmacy to take it - which is too much like a drug
"score" - that's not normal, is it?"

But she conceded that once a user left with the drug there was no way
to stop him or her from selling it to another user, such as Mr
Binzegger - along with its potentially fatal consequences.

The manager of the Auckland Regional Methadone Service, Max Lloyd,
said those allowed to take the drug away had to show that its use
would be safe and was necessary because of work, study or family reasons,

The Health Funding Authority gave $7 million to the methadone
programme this year to cater for the country's 3300 registered users.

Rutherford's lawyer, Warren Scotter, told, the Hamilton District Court
on Monday that the pair were also encouraged by the easy availability
of syringes used to inject the methadone.

The national coordinator for the needle exchange programme, Simon
Nimmo, said its philosophy was based on harm reduction and it was lack
of education about drug dangers that led to deaths like Mr
Binzegger's.