WHITE HOUSE ENDORSES USE OF METHADONE

NEW YORK---The White House's top drug policy official on Tuesday recommended
expanding the availability of the drug methadone.

General Barry McCaffrey outlined a major overhaul of federal methadone
policy to treat heroin addiction in a speech to a national conference of the
American Methadone Treatment Association in New York.

The proposals by General McCaffrey, which incorporate suggestions from
government agencies and other specialists in substance abuse, recommend that
qualified physicians be allowed to administer methadone to patients in their
offices. Methadone is now dispensed at special clinics. The times when it is
dispensed can make it difficult for some recovering addicts to hold down
jobs.

General McCaffrey urged that methadone treatment be made available to any
addict who requests and needs it. Methadone is used by 115,000 Americans
addicted to heroin. They account for a fraction of the estimated 810,000
opiate addicts in the United States, some of whom cannot find treatment
slots that would give them access to methadone.

The administration intends to begin redrafting the federal regulations
governing methadone in December or January. Officials said they doubted that
congressional approval would be needed for any of the changes and foresaw no
barriers at the federal level.

States have wide control over the availability of methadone, however. New
York state is the country's largest methadone provider. But eight statesdo
not permit methadone clinics at all, forcing residents who feel they need it
to travel to other states.

The expectation is that a stronger endorsement of methadone's efficacy by
the federal government will encourage comparable changes in at least some
states.

Among other changes, General McCaffrey urged that the Food and Drug
Administration turn over the regulation of methadone to the Mental Health
and Human Services Administration. He also suggested creating a
comprehensive evaluation and accreditation system to assess methadone
treatment at clinics, which vary widely in the quality and quantity of
services.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York City has sharply criticized methadone
treatment.

"I guess General McCaffrey has surrendered," Mr. Giuliani said Monday, "and
essentially what he'd like to do is deal with heroin addiction by making
people addicted to methadone, which maybe even is a worse addiction."

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst