[Clinical aspects and evaluation of methadone substitution therapy]

For a long time, regrettable prejudices have slowed down the expansion of methadone treatment. The arrival of AIDS and the need to find new therapies for addicts have facilitated a reduction in the misunderstanding concerning methadone. Methadone does not induce a narcotic, analgesic, or tranquilizing state for dependant addicts, is medically very safe and is not necessarily a life-long cure. Methadone treatments have become the most efficient means of treating addicts who are not able or willing to start short term abstinence programmes or go to specialized institutions. An evaluation of methadone treatments at the Phoenix Foundation in Geneva has confirmed that these programmes were able to reduce heroin use, delinquency, prostitution, risk of AIDS, overdoses or suicides and to maintain a good medical and psychosocial stability for the majority of the patients.