title: Methadone, methadone treatment and non-fatal overdose.
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.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Drug Misuse Research, The University of Glasgow, UK. jn16v@udcf.gla.ac.uk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Neale
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000506:poisoning*; D009294:Narcotics / Q000506:poisoning*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D008691:Methadone