Panel on Medication-Assisted Treatment for Heroin and Other Opioid Abusing Offenders, October 3, 2007

• NCJ Number: 244263
• Date Published: October 2007
• Length: 0 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This Web page contains a summary of the discussion resulting from the Panel on Medication-Assisted Treatment for Heroin and Other Opioid Abusing Offenders held in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2007.

Abstract

This Web page located on the National Institute of Justice's Web site, contains a summary of the panel discussion on medication-assisted treatment for heroin and other opioid abusing offenders held in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2007. The primary objective of the meeting was to examine the use of opioids and treatment options for offenders who are incarcerated or under supervision in the community. Previous research has found that while counseling and other non-medication treatment therapies can be successful, the use of medications such as methadone and buprenorphine can also improve outcomes for offenders. Several issues that could affect the outcomes for offenders were raised during the discussion. These included the treatment philosophy of complete abstinence (clean and sober), the appropriateness of short-term (buprenorphine) vs. long-term (methadone) regimens, heroin (including injection drug) vs. other opioid (prescription drug) abusers, and nonclinical problems of compliance and improper use (boosting with alcohol and other drugs).