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believe that a panacea for the eradication of narcotic addiction had
been found. Drs. Dole and Nyswander would be the first to say that
methadone is not a cure but an invaluable assist in a narcotic
dependent patient’s recovery.

As recently as 1984, the United States Supreme Court denied veteran’s
benefits to alcoholics on the grounds that their condition is due to
“willful misconduct”. Vincent Dole, M.D. who, along with Marie
Nyswander, M.D., pioneered methadone treatment, commented, “the
ruling made explicit by the widespread prejudice against addicts…. if
taken to logical limits, we would deny treatment to a skier with a
broken leg or a sunbather with skin cancer”.

There are those that would believe methadone treatment actually
creates addicts. The criteria for substance dependence (addiction) as
defined by the DSM IV includes a reference to the loss of control over
drug use and compulsive drug seeking/using behavior where this
behavior continues despite adverse physical, mental, legal, social, and
occupational consequences. When an opioid addicted individual is
stabilized on methadone, they no longer meet the diagnostic criteria
for substance dependence.

Unfortunately, treatment or the lack thereof, is dictated by the
perceptions held regarding opioid dependency per se, and only
secondarily by the benefits of any particular treatment modality.
Today, even with the opportunities provided under Proposition 36,
California Courts are reluctant to refer opioid dependent persons to
methadone treatment, believing that “medicating” these patients is not
a viable treatment option.

More than 210,000 patients are being treated in approximately 1100
medically assisted treatment programs across the country. Methadone
is but one component of these comprehensive medical and clinical
treatment systems. These programs address the needs of their patients,
but as importantly, safeguard the general public as well

Addiction is a chronic and relapsing disorder, defying easy
explanation or solutions.