More-Effective Drugs for Heroin Addiction

The study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA), was published in the November 2 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study involved 220 heroin-dependent volunteers between the ages of 21 and 55, randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: LAAM, buprenorphine, high-dose methadone, or low-dose methadone. There were 55 patients in each group. Reported heroin use for all four groups decreased by about 90% after entering treatment.

There was little difference in outcomes among the LAAM, buprenorphine, and high-dose methadone group. In the 17-week study, retention rates ranged from 72.7% (high-dose methadone) to 20% (low-dose methadone). More than 33% of the LAAM patients had 12 or more consecutive negative urine specimens, while only 8% of the low-dose methadone patients achieved this number. Patients in the LAAM and buprenorphine groups were given their drugs three times a week, a big advantage over the daily doses given the methadone groups.