ADDICTION FIGHT GAINS ALLY

Buprenorphine is an old drug that has given substance-abuse experts new
hope for combatting addiction to prescription painkillers, a phenomenon
health care providers and law enforcers say is epidemic along the Wasatch
Front. Of 98 drug abuse-related deaths in Salt Lake and Davis counties in
2001, about half were linked to narcotic pain medications.

The health-care community clearly needs a means to combat horrible drug
addictions that destroy lives and exact a wide range of social costs. Enter
buprenorphine, an old post-surgery pain medication that quells physical
urges for narcotics in addicts. Buprenorphine works on the same chemical
receptors in the brain as heroin-like drugs. Rather than producing a high,
it blocks cravings for narcotics.

One advantage of substance-abuse treatment using buprenorphine is that the
drug will be made available through qualified primary-care physicians.
Addicts who might hesitate to seek treatment in traditional settings ought
to feel more comfortable seeking help from a trusted family physician who
can then work in concert with drug-abuse treatment providers.

Thus far, only seven physicians in Utah have undergone the FDA-required
training to dispense buprenorphine. That number needs to increase to
address the significant prescription painkiller abuse prevalent in Utah.

According to the state Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, about
5,000 Utahns are opiate-addicted, but only about one in five seeks
treatment. The availability of buprenorphine -- said to be the best
anti-drug drug to come along in the 50 years since methadone -- should help
increase the number of people who will at least seek treatment, which is
the most important but the most difficult step in overcoming addiction.

With one more tool at their disposal, primary care physicians and substance
abuse treatment providers have reason for hope in the fight against heroin
and prescription painkiller addiction, which claims far too many people in
the prime of their lives.