ADVISERS URGE WIDER USE OF METHADONE FOR ADDICTS

WASHINGTON -- Labeling heroin addiction a "treatable disease," a panel of
scientists is urging the government to expand the availability of methadone
treatment and allow more doctors to dispense the synthetic narcotic.

The recommendation, to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, comes as the White House's drug policy office
seeks to boost money for methadone programs in next year's budget and is
working with other agencies to change the system for licensing clinics.

"I think that most political leaders have a strong interest in seeing crime
go down and productivity go up in their neighborhoods," said James
McDonough, chief strategist at the drug policy office. "You get that with
methadone treatment."

The office hopes that by spring it will have a consensus on how to increase
the availability of treatment, for example, by offering an accreditation
program for clinics, so it can push for legislation in Congress by fall.

The 12 scientists convened by the National Institutes of Health acknowledge
that methadone is not a panacea for substance abuse. But they say it can
enable addicts to lead productive lives, if coupled with counseling and
stable work.

"Although a drug-free state represents an optimal treatment goal, research
has demonstrated that this goal cannot be achieved or sustained by the
majority of persons dependent on opiates," the panel says.

An estimated 810,000 chronic heroin users live in the United States, but
only about 115,000 receive methadone.

Methadone, first used widely some 30 years ago, is a narcotic that blunts
heroin addicts' craving for the street drug and eases the painful symptoms
of heroin withdrawal. It has some of the same physiological effects on the
brain as heroin, but without the "high" that addicts crave.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski