Sir, - Some weeks ago your paper reported on the inaugural meeting of the Eurad group, whose main policy is to discourage the State-backed treatment of drug misusers, advocating abstinence as the answer to drug addiction.
This is not the first time people have questioned the rationale behind the use of Methadone in the treatment of drug misusers. Some years ago the Sunday Business Post questioned if there was "Methadone in the DOH's madness" pointing out that alcoholics did not receive a free vodka daily. Suffice to say that recovering alcoholics do not have a free vodka samples posted through their doors by vicious publicans looking to get their custom back.
In a recent report by the International Drug Control Programme, the spending of vast amounts of government revenue on catching dealers and preventing trafficking of illegal drugs is seen as somewhat futile, requiring the interception of some 75 per cent of all shipments to "pinch" the major drug dealers. Instead, this report advocates the use of Methadone maintenance and detoxification procedures.
As a group pharmacists have consistently lobbied for tighter controls on the distribution of Methadone to prevent "street leakage". However, this does not undermine its use in stabilising many drug users, leading to their eventual rehabilitation for the good of all the community.
The supervised daily dispensing of Methadone to drug misusers in pharmacies as outlined by Dr Ita Delargy last week is the ideal situation; but for it to be effective, tighter controls will have to be introduced for all Methadone distribution.
Methadone is not a cure; it is a substitute for heroin which affords misusers the time away from their chaotic lifestyles to make the necessary decisions that lead to a drug-free lifestyle. The treatment of drug misusers is a specialist field requiring a properly co-ordinated approach between trained professionals and must be looked on as a health care issue, with any improvement in a person's health being viewed as a positive result. - Yours etc.,
Patrick Byrne M.P.S.I., Eastern Region Chairman, Irish Pharmaceutical Union,
Dublin 4.