Methadone Medical Maintenance

Policy Statement

Number 1

April 1994

The National Alliance of Methadone Advocates supports the concept of Medical Maintenance and the prescribing of methadone outside of the methadone clinic setting. Medical Maintenance was initially implemented for patients who had achieved a high level of functionally in society and were hindered by the regulations that were conceived with the dysfunctional patient in mind. Another concern by the designers of Medical Maintenance was the stigma associated with methadone maintenance. The prejudice and misunderstanding of methadone maintenance places the stabilized and fully rehabilitated patient at risk of losing everything they have accomplished if they are seen entering a methadone program. Medical Maintenance can also provide treatment for patients who would not respond well in the program setting and may need specialized treatment that a physician can offer.

Methadone maintenance should be designed to meet the needs of all patients, unfortunately it does not. Medical Maintenance will begin to address these problems. The epidemic of HIV among intravenous drug users creates an urgency to redesign the methadone system to reach all those at risk. At the very least Medical Maintenance will free the fully rehabilitated patient thus opening additional treatment places for those who desperately need methadone treatment.

Since its beginning methadone maintenance has been the most popular treatment for narcotic addiction. Many times over the years methadone treatment had been demonstrated to be the most effective treatment for narcotic addiction, resulting the termination of heroin use and of criminal behavior. In spite of its success, methadone maintenance is often disparaged as a “substitute drug” by those who ignore the positive benefits that it had clearly brought to society. These attitudes negatively impact on methadone maintenance programs in a variety of ways, but it is the methadone patients themselves who are particularly stigmatized and harmed. The atmosphere will not change as long as there is no organization or formal mechanism for methadone patients to voice their own needs and to form a strong unified public presence on their own behalf. As the premier national advocacy organization for methadone treatment the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates, Inc. (NAMA) will actively respond to the issues that affect the daily lives of methadone patients and work towards the day when all methadone patients can take pride in their accomplishments.

[Download PDF] 

[Next Policy Statement]

[Index Policy Statements]