LANE,RICHARD - A TIRELESS FIGHTER FOR TREATMENT OF DRUG-ADDICTION

After a long and courageous battle with cancer, Richard Lane died in 1 994. He had been a long-term heroin addict and spent 12 years in priso ns. After commencing treatment with methadone, he began to work with o ther addicts and helped to start Man Alive, the first methadone progra m in Baltimore. He later became Executive Director of Man Alive and a national leader in the effort to improve and expand methadone maintena nce treatment. Among the innovations he promoted within the methadone program were onsite alcoholism treatment, protocols for poly-drug abus e, services for patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, imp roved pain management for methadone patients, and fewer restrictions f or socially rehabilitated patients on methadone. He fought tirelessly for acceptance of methadone maintenance treatment by those in medicine , law enforcement, and politics. His accomplishments can inspire all i n the addiction field to continue their efforts to improve the care of the addict.