MOVE OVER, METHADONE?

While the use of methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin
addiction, continues to be increasingly scrutinized, Essex County Sheriff
Frank Cousins Jr. believes a new drug may soon make methadone obsolete.
Suboxone is a combination of two currently marketed medications,
buprenorphine and naloxone. It is designed to be used for the treatment of
people with heroin and opiate addictions. Additional studies are still
being conducted. Suboxone and Subutex were the first therapies approved
for in-office prescribing under the federal Drug Addiction Treatment Act
of 2000. Subutex is given during the first few days of treatment, while
Suboxone is used during the maintenance phase of treatment. Both
medications are administered as tablets and placed under the tongue.

"It takes away a person's craving for heroin," says Cousins of Suboxone.
"It could end up being a better option than methadone." For nearly 35
years, methadone has been used to treat opiate addiction. In fact, about
20 percent of the estimated 800,000 or so heroin addicts in the United
States receive methadone treatment, according to the Office of National
Drug Control Policy.

But in recent years, both state and federal officials have expressed
concerns that methadone is being increasingly abused and is causing a rise
in overdoses and deaths.

"I'm not a big advocate of methadone use," says Cousins.