DRUG RAISES HOPES FOR EXPANDING HEROIN TREATMENT

With four New Yorkers hooked on opiates for each available slot in drug
treatment programs, state officials are rushing to make available a new
alternative to methadone to treat addicts.

The state Health Department has issued regulations for using the drug
buprenorphine in the treatment of addiction to heroin and other opium
derivatives.

In October, the federal Food and Drug Administration approved use of the
drug. Drug experts called it a promising alternative to methadone, which
has long been used to wean addicts off heroin.

Buprenorphine is administered through a tablet that is dissolved under the
tongue. It works by blocking the same brain receptors that heroin targets
but without heroin's high and with weaker narcotic effects than methadone.

Charles Curie, administrator of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, said buprenorphine will allow physicians to
treat patients for opiate addictions in the same way they treat people for
diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses.

"A qualified physician will be able, for the first time, to prescribe an
anti-addiction medication in an office setting and treat opiate addiction
as any other chronic disease," Curie said.

The entry into the buprenorphine age for addiction treatment dates back to
2000, when Congress passed the Drug Abuse Treatment Act. It authorized
physicians to prescribe approved drugs to addicts from their offices, which
represents a potentially vast widening of the availability of treatment
from the current network of methadone clinics and other drug centers.

Under federal rules, physicians must undergo eight hours of training and
obtain a waiver so they can prescribe the drug.

The state Health Department says the state has 125 authorized methadone
clinics and substance abuse programs capable of treating about 46,000 New
Yorkers. That represents less than one-fourth of the estimated 200,000
people addicted to opiates in New York.

The state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services said addicts in
many rural areas of the state, who do not have access to methadone clinics
or state-licensed drug treatment centers, will be able to easily get care
for their conditions with buprenorphine.

"This is an exciting opportunity to expand services because this is
actually the first prescription drug to treat disorders in an office-based
setting," said spokeswoman Jennifer Sandu.

Buprenorphine is itself addicting, and the Health Department's regulations
are designed to curtail the potential misuse of the drug, spokeswoman
Kristine Smith said.

Doctors and pharmacies must notify the department of every instance where
buprenorphine is prescribed - as they must with other controlled substances
- - so the state can track the drug's use.