Methadone treatment: program evaluation and dose response relationships

Data from a heterogeneous group of 155 clients in a Methadone Treatment Program were analyzed for (A) number of possible methadone administrations since S joined the program, (B) actual number of methadone administrations received, (C) spottiness (A-B), and (D) presence of illicit drugs in urine analysis reports. Data were evaluated for three separate time spans which corresponded with three programmatic changes. Results indicate that initially high blockading doses of methadone are effective in reducing illicit drug use, but as length of time in program increases, the efficacy of low doses of methadone in reducing illicit drug use increases. At least one programmatic change, a more stringent selection procedure, was demonstrated to be highly successful in reducing illicit drug use.