BLITZ ON PILL-POPPERS

Some people hooked on painkillers containing codeine are being treated
with methadone - usually used to treat heroin addiction - as
authorities crack down on pill-poppers and doctor-shopping.

A Health Insurance Commission program visits the most serious
doctor-shoppers - those who visit at least 15 doctors and get 50 or
more prescriptions a year - to encourage them to become part of
structured drug programs under the care of a single doctor.

The number of serious doctor-shoppers has dropped from 13,200 to 9000
over the three years to June 1998, according to preliminary HIC
figures. The organisation claims a saving for the taxpayer of $8
million so far, according to the manager of compliance, Mr Peter
Brandt. He said people addicted to drugs containing codeine, narcotics
or benzodiazepines often spent all day going from doctor to doctor
trying to service their addiction, he said. Most became addicted after
suffering a genuine condition for which they were prescribed drugs.

The director of the Southern Metropolitan Region Methadone Clinic, Dr
Benny Monheit, said it was not common to prescribe methadone for those
addicted to pills. According to the Department of Human Services, 5500
people are on the methadone program in Victoria but only about 1 per
cent of them are on it for treatment of conditions other than heroin
abuse.

Dr Monheit said other options for pill-poppers included
hospitalisation and detoxification. Methadone was "almost a last
resort" because it was a stronger and more addictive opiate than codeine.

He did not feel methadone was being overused as a treatment for pill
addiction.

The head of research at the Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Dr
Alison Ritter, said the organisation was planning trials of a drug
called buprenorphine to help ease people off methadone. Many people
found it difficult to withdraw from methadone, she said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry