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  • Title: Controlled use of heroin in patients on methadone maintenance treatment.
    Author: Bianchi E, Maremmani I, Meloni D, Tagliamonte A.
    Journal: J Subst Abuse Treat; 1992; 9(4):383-7. PubMed ID: 1479633.
    Abstract:
    The efficacy of methadone maintenance treatment was evaluated on 93 patients after 10 years of therapy. On the basis of therapeutic compliance, patients were divided into three groups: (a) 40 Total-Agreement subjects on weekly take-home methadone; (b) 28 Partial-Agreement subjects, who regularly attended the clinic daily but presented episodic positive urinalysis; (c) 25 No-Agreement patients, who were absent from the clinic more than twice a month and had a high rate of urinalysis positive for morphine. Statistical analysis, based on social adjustment improvement and criminality rate decrease, divided the 93 patients into 2 distinct categories. The first category, characterized by high social adjustment and low criminality score, included the Total- and Partial-agreement groups. The second, characterized by significantly lower social adjustment and higher criminality score, included all No-Agreement patients. This suggests that methadone treatment was able to dissociate heroin use from low social functioning. It was concluded that, in a condition of adequate compliance the episodic use of heroin is of no harm to patients on methadone maintenance therapy, that is, methadone maintenance treatment permits a controlled use of heroin.
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