[Opiate substitution programs: last chance programs or deal for quality of life?]

Substitution treatments have contributed to a successful policy of risk reduction. These treatments should now also include an "existential" dimension. Therefore the development of a life plan for substance abuse patients becomes a main concern. Therapist taking care of substance abuse patients should therefore ask themselves for what purpose prescribe opiate substitution treatments instead of just answering risk reduction issues. This shift requires us to move from a logic of emergency with immediate response to "passive" patients to a logic of crisis asking the patients active participation in their recovery process.