Doctors explain the purpose of methadone treatment and cleaning needles: to relieve withdrawal symptoms, reduce the risk of relapse and prevent epidemics, but not to encourage drug abuse

2026/10/04 14:03

Mehadol treatment is mainly to relieve withdrawal symptoms and reduce the risk of relapse, while cleaning needles is to avoid the spread of HIV and other viruses and is not to encourage drug use. (Photo provided by the Department of Disease Control and Prevention)

[Reporter Huang Yijing/Report from Taipei] Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan yesterday questioned DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang's past articles on Facebook, advocating the provision of methadone and clean needles in the community. There was even a question about "whether providing clean needles is a disguised encouragement to drug abuse." ; In this regard, Huang Sanyuan, executive director of the Taiwan Addiction Society and professor of the Department of Medicine at the National Defense Medical University, said that methadone treatment is mainly to alleviate withdrawal symptoms and reduce the risk of relapse, while cleaning needles is to avoid the spread of HIV and other viruses and does not encourage drug abuse.

Huang Sanyuan said that heroin addiction cannot be stopped by willpower alone. After stopping using heroin, patients often face strong withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Anticipatory withdrawal reactions such as anxiety and restlessness may begin to occur 3 or 4 hours after stopping use. After 8 to 12 hours of stopping use, symptoms such as sweating and abdominal pain will appear one after another. This also makes patients easy to take drugs again, which is also a difficulty in treatment.

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Huang Sanyuan explained that treatment will be carried out in stages according to the condition of the disease, which can be divided into stages such as relief of withdrawal symptoms, prevention of relapse and change of lifestyle. Methadol has a longer duration of action and can last for one day. It can reduce heroin withdrawal symptoms and cravings, help patients maintain a stable life and work, and avoid repeated use of illegal drugs. Currently, the World Health Organization also uses methadol and other opioids as replacement therapy and maintenance treatment.

Huang Sanyuan said that treatment such as methadol has been promoted in China since about 2006. The main reason was that injection drug addicts shared needles at that time, which led to the spread of the AIDS epidemic. Therefore, they hoped to reduce the risk of infection through cleaning needles and methadol treatment.