Methadone Maintenance and Addict Abstinence

Families of heroin addicts function so that the addict has a difficult time in remaining abstinent. A study of a methadone clinic indicates that frequently the clinic functions in an analogous fashion to the addict's family. Consequently, rather than alleviating the problem, it exacerbates it. Unspoken conflicts between staff members frequently are acted out through individual patients and result in requests for more medication and more frequent illicit drug use.