Methadone dosing, heroin affordability, and the severity of addiction

Bibliographic Data

ID11035640
AuthorsPeter B Bach (0000-0001-5175-402X, University of Chicago), JD Lantos
Year1999
Volume89
Issue5
Pages662-665
Publication date1999-05-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.89.5.662
PMID10224975
OpenAlexW2045244776
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited9

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to track changes in US heroin prices from 1988 to 1995 and to determine whether changes in the affordability of heroin were associated with changes in the use of heroin by users seeking methadone treatment, as indexed by methadone dose levels. METHODS: Data on the price of heroin were from the Drug Enforcement Administration; data on methadone doses were from surveys conducted in 1988, 1990, and 1995 of 100 methadone maintenance centers. Multivariable models that controlled for time and city effects were used to ascertain whether clinics in cities where heroin was less expensive had patients receiving higher doses of methadone, which would suggest that these patients had relatively higher physiological levels of opiate addiction owing to increased heroin use. RESULTS: The amount of pure heroin contained in a $100 (US) purchase has increased on average 3-fold between 1988 and 1995. The average dose of methadone in clinics was positively associated with the affordability of local heroin (P

Addiction · Dosing · Drug · Environmental health · Heroin · Heroin addiction · Heroin dependence · Methadone · Psychiatry · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Medicine · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment · Pharmacology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

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