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If all true, why conflict? The continuing controversy about
methadone treatment is found both in the genesis of the medication
and the disease of opioid addiction itself.

The public’s first introduction to the “treatment” of narcotic addiction
was the invention of heroin by the German Bayer Corporation in 1897.
Heroin was touted as a cure for “Morphinism”. Obviously, not long
after heroin’s initial legal use for the treatment of opiate addiction, the
original “cure” became itself the problem.

In the United States, the first official “Treatment Plan” for narcotic
dependency came during the early part of the twentieth century.
Heavily weighted in favor of “ law and order”, it all but ignored
“health and safety”. Between 1914 and 1938, approximately 25,000
physicians were arrested and 5,000 jailed for attempting to treat
narcotic dependence. Thus, the stigma against both the opioid
addicted patient and the treatment provider was established.

In 1937 during World War II, analgesics were in short supply in
Germany. A major funding source of the Nazi regime had
synthesized methadone and it became a major political and social issue
impeding its widespread acceptance. The major funding source, I.G
Farben Corporation, was also the one that later supplied Zyklon-B,
used to exterminate millions. Eli Lilly introduced methadone into the
United States in 1946, under the trade name “dolophine” (from the
word “dolar” or pain). The choice of name and its similarity to
Adolph Hitler lent credence to those believing it was developed to
enslave, not treat.

Methadone treatment emerged in the U.S. as a pragmatic and cost
effective approach compared to the devastating health and social
consequences of opioid dependency. Prior to this, the U.S.
unsuccessfully employed every intervention imaginable, including
criminal incarceration, hospitalization, and intensive multidisciplinary
inpatient medical and clinical therapies.

Following the 1965 work of Dr.’s Dole and Nyswander, articles about
methadone from the then leading magazines led the public to falsely