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Bluelight Crew
Methadone will be used to treat heroin, opium users
BY SA’ODAH ELIAS
PUTRAJAYA: Heroin and opium addicts will be treated using methadone, an alternative drug, under a pioneer project that will start at the end of the year.
The addicts will be expected to pay RM13 a dose for their treatment when the programme kicks off, Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Noh Omar said.
He said the authorities were formulating proper guidelines and an effective monitoring system on the use of the synthetic drug to prevent abuse.
The Government, he said, did not want problems similar to those it faced when it legalised the use of subutex (buprenorphine hydrochloride), another opiate substitute in 1998.
“We faced a lot of problems then because of the unsupervised use of subutex had led to abuse of the drug.
“Now that we have decided to start a trial programme on the use of methadone, we want to make sure that if it is accepted as a treatment regime, it can be monitored properly,” he said at his office yesterday.
The absence of proper guidelines on the use of subutex, he said, had also created misunderstanding because while the sale of the drugs for treatment of heroin addicts was legal, addicts could still be arrested for possessing them.
On another development, he said the Government had already built 10 community service centres for addicts to encourage interaction between them and society.
The plan, he said, was to build at least 93 such centres so that each district will have a centre to help former addicts get back on their feet after they leave rehabilitation centres.
Each centre, he said, would also have a hostel that could house former addicts and those under police supervision.
Source
BY SA’ODAH ELIAS
PUTRAJAYA: Heroin and opium addicts will be treated using methadone, an alternative drug, under a pioneer project that will start at the end of the year.
The addicts will be expected to pay RM13 a dose for their treatment when the programme kicks off, Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Noh Omar said.
He said the authorities were formulating proper guidelines and an effective monitoring system on the use of the synthetic drug to prevent abuse.
The Government, he said, did not want problems similar to those it faced when it legalised the use of subutex (buprenorphine hydrochloride), another opiate substitute in 1998.
“We faced a lot of problems then because of the unsupervised use of subutex had led to abuse of the drug.
“Now that we have decided to start a trial programme on the use of methadone, we want to make sure that if it is accepted as a treatment regime, it can be monitored properly,” he said at his office yesterday.
The absence of proper guidelines on the use of subutex, he said, had also created misunderstanding because while the sale of the drugs for treatment of heroin addicts was legal, addicts could still be arrested for possessing them.
On another development, he said the Government had already built 10 community service centres for addicts to encourage interaction between them and society.
The plan, he said, was to build at least 93 such centres so that each district will have a centre to help former addicts get back on their feet after they leave rehabilitation centres.
Each centre, he said, would also have a hostel that could house former addicts and those under police supervision.
Source