Methadone treatment for heroin addiction has helped to reduce the number of heroin addicts in Taiwan, the Ministry of Justice said.
The ministry and the Department of Health launched a “methadone substitution program” in 2007.
Methadone is designed to treat narcotic withdrawal by reducing dependence on drugs such as heroin. When administered by a physician, it also reduces the risk of contracting diseases through injections.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Chronic heroin addicts might need to use methadone for much of their lives to deal with their addiction.
Although the recidivism rate for heroin use is more than 90 percent, the methadone substitution program has been found to be effective internationally, the ministry said.
Under the program, addicts who turn themselves in or are arrested by the police can be granted deferred prosecution and receive methadone treatment immediately.
A growing number of addicts have chosen to receive methadone treatment in recent years, the ministry said.
The authorities seized a total of 194.9kg of heroin in 2008, but from January to October last year, only 14.6kg was seized, numbers the ministry claimed indicated that heroin smuggling into the country had dropped.
In contrast, the volume of “class-two” drug amphetamines seized had not changed much from 2007 through last year.
Statistics also show that only a small number of heroin addicts who received methadone treatment had been found using heroin, it said.
There are plans to introduce methadone treatment in prisons and another substitution medicine, Buprenorphine, is likely to be made available for drug addicts soon, the ministry said.
According to the law, individuals arrested for using “first-class” drugs such as heroin and cocaine, or “class-two” drugs such as amphetamines and marijuana, who choose not to join the methadone substitution program are required to undergo treatment at drug abstention and treatment centers for a maximum of one month.
Those who fail a medical examination after one month of treatment are required to undergo a second period of treatment that can last up to a maximum of one year.
The law stipulates that if individuals who have already received narcotic treatment are arrested again for drug use they will be charged with a criminal offence.
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