GPs' attitudes towards the treatment of drug misusers

General practitioners (GPs) are encouraged to play a major part in the care and treatment of drug users; however, many regularly encounter physical or verbal abuse and feel frustration, disappointment, and disillusionment when treating such patients. Furthermore, communication difficulties between doctor and patient and the advent of HIV serve to intensify these problems. In order to address these issues, a questionnaire survey was carried out to assess what proportion of GPs are commonly employed in the management of drug misusers, and to examine the attitudes towards, and knowledge of, the management of these patients. The results show that this group of GPs are concerned about drug misuse in their immediate geographic area and believe it should be detected in general practice. Despite this, fewer than half of the GPs felt they had adequate knowledge of the issues surrounding opiate misuse. This finding certainly raises the question of the availability of training and education in the area of drug misuse.