What role does the drug methadone play in treating heroin addicts?

What will be an ideal response?


Methadone is known by the commercial names Dolophine Hydrochloride and Methadone HCl Diskets. A heroin-dependent person can be treated with doses of methadone as a replacement for heroin. Methadone is manufactured in a solid form and administered orally. It is considered a "maintenance drug" and is used to maintain a heroin addict at a stable level of opiate use, protecting the addict from the incidental dangers of heroin use.
The beneficial properties of methadone are that it is longer acting than most opiates and addicts do not build up tolerance as fast as with heroin. Also, oral administration is less potentially hazardous than injection, since it significantly reduces the addict's risk for diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and AIDS. On average, it takes about three weeks on methadone before a heroin addict completes the withdrawal stage and moves to the maintenance stage. However, it must be noted that the simultaneous use of methadone and heroin does not totally negate the physiological effect of the heroin on the user.
There is considerable controversy over the adoption of methadone maintenance programs. Critics argue that drug dependence is not cured. Proponents argue that it presents a cheaper way of supporting drug dependence and gets abusers out of crime and back to a conventional life. Proponents recognize that the programs need to include appropriate psychiatric help for overcoming the psychological dependence.

Criminal Justice

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At the 1968 Democratic National Convention

a. The police used tear gas and billy clubs against anti-war protesters, and members of the New Left and the black power movement who were demonstrating outside the convention. b. There was a resurgence in support for the war as Humphrey unveiled a new military strategy. c. Hubert Humphrey was nominated as president in a convention that gained little national attention. d. Anti-war protesters supported Hubert Humphrey as he had promised to end the war. e. None of these are correct.

Criminal Justice

Police courts, traffic courts, and municipal courts are typically overseen by ______.

a. the governor b. the Supreme Court c. a prosecutor d. a magistrate

Criminal Justice

Which of the following theories view property crime as learned behavior in which the offender becomes socialized to engage in criminal activity?

a. anomie theory b. developmental/life course theory c. differential association theory d. routine activities theory

Criminal Justice

According to the text, which of the following is not among the problems that exist with relying on a deterrence-based strategy to control delinquency?

a. Juveniles often commit crimes individually; thus peer pressure has no impact on the deterrence of the law. b. Minors tend to be less capable of making mature judgments or rational decisions. c. The most serious delinquents may neither fully comprehend the seriousness of their acts nor appreciate their consequences. d. Many juvenile offenders are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, which might impair their decision-making ability.

Criminal Justice