Citation

Neale J. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2000; 58(1-2): 117-124.

Affiliation

Centre for Drug Misuse Research, The University of Glasgow, UK. jn16v@udcf.gla.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10669062

Abstract

This paper provides a mainly qualitative investigation of the role of methadone and methadone treatment in non-fatal illicit drug overdose. During 1997 and 1998, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 individuals in six hospital accident and emergency departments in two Scottish cities. The research identified four overdose situations related to methadone/methadone treatment. These were: (1) topping up a legitimate methadone prescription; (2) abusing another's methadone prescription; (3) preferring illegal drugs to prescribed methadone; and (4) failing to obtain prescribed methadone. The implications of these findings for methadone treatment policy and practice are discussed.

Language: en