A randomized clinical trial of methadone maintenance for prisoners: Results at 12 months postrelease

Abstract

This study examined the impact of prison-initiated methadone maintenance at 12-months postrelease. Males with pre-incarceration heroin dependence (n=204) were randomly assigned to: 1) Counseling Only: counseling in prison, with passive referral to treatment upon release; 2) Counseling +Transfer: counseling in prison with transfer to methadone maintenance treatment upon release; and 3) Counseling+Methadone: counseling and methadone maintenance in prison, continued in the community upon release. The mean number of days in community-based drug abuse treatment were, respectively, Counseling Only 23.1, Counseling+Transfer 91.3, and Counseling+Methadone 166.0, p <.01; all pairwise comparisons were statistically significant (all ps < .01). Counseling +Methadone participants were also significantly less likely than participants in each of the other two groups to be opioid-positive or cocaine-positive according to urine drug testing. These results support the effectiveness of prison-initiated methadone for males in the United States. Further study is required to confirm the findings for women.

Methadone maintenance treatment program in prisons from the perspective of medical and non-medical prison staff: a qualitative study in Iran

“…Nowadays, MMT is used in different parts of the world to reduce harm among PWIDs inside and outside prisons. MMT is one of the most important measures of harm reduction programs, and has led to effectively reduction or termination of drug injection and shared practices (12)(13)(14) and also highrisk sexual behaviors (12,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). This medication improves mental and physical conditions of patients and reduces the risk of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis (20,21).…”

Treatment satisfaction and quality of support in outpatient substitution treatment: opiate users’ experiences and perspectives

“…OST is considered to be one of the most effective interventions to reduce the social, health and economic burden associated with opiate dependence (Amato et al, 2005;Kinlock, Gordon, Schwartz, Fitzgerald, & O'Grady, 2009;Moller, Karymbaeva, Subata, & Kiaer, 2009;Stover, 2011;Vanagas, Padaiga, & Bagdonas, 2010). Additional psychosocial support is deemed to be essential for enhancing the effectiveness of OST (Amato et al, 2005;Vander Laenen et al, 2013;WHO, 2009).…”

Implementing methadone maintenance treatment in prisons in Malaysia

“…2 Within prisons, MMT has been shown to dramatically reduce deaths from drug overdose, 3 which is the leading direct cause of death over the two weeks that immediately follow release from prison. 4 Despite this evidence of their benefits in the community 5,6 and in criminal justice settings, [7][8][9][10][11] MMT programmes have expanded very slowly and continue to have low coverage. In this report we describe how Malaysia initiated MMT within two prisons and examine the obstacles that hampered implementation and retention in care after prisoners' release.…”