MAINTENANCE TREATMENT WITH CODEINE-BASED DRUGS - TREATMENT EFFECTS ONHEROIN ABUSERS FROM PHYSICIANS AND PATIENTS PERSPECTIVE

The controversy caused by the debate on treatment and substitution str ategies in drug addiction is unchanged. This is particularly true conc erning the use of codein-based drugs in the substitution of heroin abu sers. However, only a few studies on the effects of this old and widel y used method of substitution have been carried out. This article pres ents one retrospective and prospective study on the effects of the cod ein-based substitution in heroin abusers (n = 416). With respect to th e issues addressed by this study such as somatic and psychic health, s ocial integration, delinquincy and consumption patterns, patients as w ell as clinicians report an improvement in general health and fewer of the problems usually associated with heroin abuse, similar to the res ults from substitution treatment elsewhere.