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Green_T


Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 4,042
Loc: UK
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Methadone for drug addicts costs the taxpayer £105m in four years [SCOT]
#13270126 - 09/30/10 01:18 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Methadone for drug addicts costs the taxpayer £105m in four years Sep 30 2010 - Daily Record.co.uk
METHADONE for drug addicts has cost the Scottish government more than £105million in just over four years, it was revealed yesterday.
An average of £67,838 was spent every day buying and dispensing the heroin substitute since March 2006 - despite experts claiming it does not work.
More than 100 people have died of methadone overdoses in that time.
And there are fears that addicts are being "parked" on the substance as Scotland's drug problems spiral out of control.
Rehabilitation workers have joined politicians in calling for a radical overhaul of treatments.
Professor Neil McKeganey, of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research in Glasgow, described the bill as "staggering".
He said: "Scotland needs to address its reliance on methadone, which has become our main drug treatment - but it is costly and delivering dubious results.
"It is becoming difficult to persuade the Scottish government to look at alternatives. The solution is to get people off drugs and into drug treatment services.
"But that can't be done by putting people on methadone indefinitely."
Mark Hepburn, clinical director of the Alexander Rehabilitation Clinic at Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire, said: "My criteria for recovery is not for a drug-maintained life, but a drug-free one.
"But we are just parking people on it."
Former Aberdeen heroin addict Barry Glaze, 29, was on methadone for five years and now believes it made coming off drugs harder.
He said: "I started taking heroin when I was 16 and was first prescribed methadone when I was 19.
"It wasn't until I was 25 that I came off it and that was after I asked my GP. If I hadn't, I would probably still be on it."
Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker said: "There have been too many cuts in services that work with addicts, and unless we see support for these services then these figures will not go down".
The government spent £20.5million prescribing the drug in 2006-07, £24.7million in 2007-08, £27.5million in 2008-09 and £27.9million in 2009-10.
A government spokesman said: "We know that the annual cost of drug misuse in the wider context of total economic and social costs is estimated at £3.5billion.
"That's over £60,000 per problem drug user - a cost for the whole community. However, these costs typically decrease by tens of thousands of pounds once an individual engages in treatment to support their recovery.
"That's why we are providing a record £28.6million investment in frontline drug treatment services in 2010-11 and our view is that the overarching aim of all drug treatment services should be recovery and this is at the core of our drugs strategy."
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"I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" - Thomas Jefferson Legalize Meth | Drug War Victims
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auronlives69
psychedelic monk



Registered: 04/19/09
Posts: 655
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Methadone for drug addicts costs the taxpayer £105m in four years [SCOT] [Re: Green_T]
#13270271 - 09/30/10 01:44 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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well no shit its not working, replacing a powerfull opiate with a weaker one is like treating addiction to meth with some crack, in the end your still hooked on something
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Diacetylmentlegen
Gentleman



Registered: 06/13/10
Posts: 267
Loc: Ireland
Last seen: 11 years, 10 months
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Re: Methadone for drug addicts costs the taxpayer £105m in four years [SCOT] [Re: auronlives69]
#13270624 - 09/30/10 02:57 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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It would be a crazy idea just to let these people work and pay for their own clean legal heroin.
That'd never help the situation. The world would probably implode.
I mean tobacco junkies still somehow tend to manage holding down a job...
-------------------- "When I recall it and when I recall various other symptoms... I think the simplest explanation is... that I had these experiences, that they were real... and that they took place outside time." - Christopher Mayhew
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Cyclohexylamine
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out


Registered: 09/08/10
Posts: 14,327
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Re: Methadone for drug addicts costs the taxpayer £105m in four years [SCOT] [Re: Diacetylmentlegen]
#13274171 - 10/01/10 08:33 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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You know maybe scotland should look to switzerland or the netherlands for a more progressive strategy - heroin clinics which don't just dispense the stuff but also HELP the people if they want to be off addiction.
-------------------- Yes this is tymo - I just changed my name Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between that dream world and the real world? There is NOTHING better than feeling that warm dissociative fuzz creeping up your body from IM K Something abut that anaesthetic rush... Qualitative Research Chemical Effects and Experiences The Wonderful World of Methoxetamine The 3-Meo-PCP Chapters, Part One
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