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This in spite of the fact that methadone is widely accepted within the
addiction treatment community as the most effective treatment for
heroin addiction, has the best treatment outcomes compared to other
modalities and is extremely effective in the prevention of HIV/AIDS
and other diseases. This in spite of the fact that methadone
dramatically reduces, and often eliminates, criminal activity. This
despite the remarkable safety record of methadone after forty years
during which it has been taken daily by hundreds of thousands of
patients.

This pervasive lack of understanding is frustrating to those of us who
see the other side of methadone, and are frustrated not only by the lack
of understanding, but more by the stigma that has to be endured by
those whose lives have dramatically benefited from it.

So we have attempted to take that frustration and convert it into a
collection of presentations that will permit you to see methadone
treatment through the eyes of a group of people who are involved in
providing such treatment and are convinced that it has an important
role to play in helping heroin-addicted patients recover control over
their lives.

It is our hope that anyone who reads through this book will gain an
increased awareness about methadone treatment, its foundation in
evidence-based science and its effectiveness in treating opioid
addiction within a variety of patient populations.

Donald R. Avoy, M.D.
Mark Stanford, Ph.D.