Physician Hu Xuejin said that taking methadone orally once a day can help heroin addicts reduce the harm caused by drug use; the picture shows the situation. (Picture taken from freepik)
[Health Channel/Comprehensive Report] DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang's 2014 article on drugs was recently uncovered by the Blue Camp, which questioned his anti-drug stance. Many people are concerned about the public health policy of methadone treatment. Nguyen Integrated Psychosomatic Physician Hu Xuejin pointed out that he has weekly methadone outpatient clinics. It is difficult to get rid of heroin addiction. Methadol maintenance therapy can reduce the risks of heroin use through two major directions: "reducing drug harm and assisting return to life." Methadol taken orally once a day can help prevent blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C caused by sharing needles.
Hu Xuejin posted on Facebook "Dr. Hu Xuejin︱Physical and Mental Health Expert" to share that methadol is a maintenance therapy for heroin detoxification. Heroin is a first-class drug because it is highly addictive, abusive and socially harmful. Heroin addiction is difficult to break, so it must be replaced with a drug that is less addictive, abusive, and less harmful to society, and that is methadone.
Hu Xuejin mentioned that once heroin is used for intravenous injection with a syringe, sharing needles will cause the spread of blood infectious diseases, such as hepatitis C, HIV, etc. Severe addiction cases require 6 to 8 times a day, making it impossible to work all day long, and heroin is the most expensive drug. Patients often lament that the money spent on drugs in recent years can buy several houses.
He went on to say that heroin-addicted patients often end up in and out of prison, often work as part-time workers, end up with broken families, and unfortunately contract infectious diseases. Oral methadol treatment can help patients reduce the harm of heroin. Drink methadol once a day. It is cheap. Patients can drink it early in the morning and go to work to make money. Because it is drunk, they will not get blood-borne infectious diseases.
Hu Xuejin said that there are even "heroin injection stations" abroad (the scientific name is often called supervised injection centers), legal institutions that provide addicts with safe and hygienic injection of drugs under the supervision of medical professionals. Injection stations are staffed by doctors, nurses, and social workers, and their core purpose is mainly "harm reduction strategies" rather than encouraging drug abuse. In addition, job opportunities will be provided to individual cases to help them detoxify and return to society.
He also said that many developed countries, including Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, have established supervised injection centers. Empirical research shows that these facilities can effectively reduce the local drug-related mortality rate and the prevalence of blood-borne infectious diseases, and reduce the problem of discarded needles left in public places on the streets.
Hu Xuejin explained that Taiwan's current harm reduction policy mainly adopts the "Clean Needle Program", which provides free needle exchange services at specific pharmacies or health clinics, and "methadol maintenance therapy", which allows addicts to take legal alternative drugs at designated medical institutions and gradually wean themselves off heroin. If drug abuse cases are detected by the prosecutors, they will be sent to the medical end for evaluation and deferred prosecution treatment through the District Attorney's Office, including outpatient treatment and psychological treatment. Of course, there is also methadone maintenance treatment. After treatment, if the drug is no longer used, there will be no prosecution.
