Risk of triple fatal overdose when offenders do not take methadone, B.C. study says



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Convicted offenders who stopped taking methadone to treat opioid addiction were three times more likely to die from an overdose, but their chances of continuing treatment with this drug would have increased significantly due to problems such as mental illness, housing and employment. Julian Somers, one of the authors of a new study of 14,530 people whose data were obtained by the BC Ministries of Health, Justice and Social Development, said that most addicts "We do not do anything else for them," said Somers, a professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, adding that substance users prescribed methadone for 7 , 9 years on average, but only about half that time between 1998 and 2015.

The study, published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine, says that a total of 1,275 participants died during

Mental Health Problems

Participants were 15 times more likely than the general population to have schizophrenia and eight times more likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, said Somers, Clinical Psychologist in. [19659002LespatientstraitésàlaméthadoneétaientencontactrégulieravecdesorganismesgouvernementauxquinerépondaientpasadéquatementàleursbesoinssociauxetmentauxcequileslaissaitsansabriimpliquésdanslesystèmedejusticepénaleethospitalisationsrépétéesBienconbadnombreuxfournisseursdeservicesmaisilsnes'améliorentpas"adéclaréMSomers"Nosressourcesnesontapparemmentpasappliquéesàleurmeilleureffet"

" It s & # 39; is not simply to find a way to & # 39; attaching an automatic backpack to & # 39; methadone administration to people so that & They have all this time. think more about the supports and interventions needed to cure addicts.

Need for a More Comprehensive Approach

Professionals, Including Doctors and Attorneys Who Fight Drug Addiction, Often Recover Without Substitution "Programs That Help Physicians Overcome Opioid Dependence and who have a payback rate of more than 80% over five years can take advantage of the fact that their clients have a number of important and important things to them, "Somers said, referring to what we call social capital.

Drug treatment courts work for many substance users because they provide housing and professional and cultural support, and these supports He said, "This population, with all the range of disadvantages that it faces, requires a much more comprehensive approach to treatment, both to obtain methadone, including convicted offenders, many of whom are indigenous. the rate of adherence to methadone increases, but also to have a greater chance of helping people to go forward in their recovery.

Housing Assistance

A study conducted by Somers in Vancouver between 2009 and 2013 showed that the private rental market for mental patients, and then providing them with medical support resulted in the use of fewer services d & # 39; emergency.

"In addition to being addicted and seriously ill, they were all homeless for about 10 years," said the 200 participants who also had fewer interactions with the criminal justice system.

Two Australian researchers said in a perspective accompanying the study that treatment with the help of suboxone-based therapy, as a substitution treatment, would help reduce the number of deaths due to an opioid overdose in North America.

Wayne Hall, Professor at the Center for Substance Abuse Youth of the University of Queensland Michael Farrell, Director of the National Center for Drugs and Alcohol at the University of New South Wales South, also called for funding educational programs to reduce the stigma of addiction that discourages people from seeking treatment.

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