Methadone's effectiveness, and the absence of any serious, long-term side effects from using it, have been demonstrated in numerous studies conducted over the past 30 years. Among the most commonly cited outcomes are:

Consumption of all illicit drugs declines to less than 40 percent of pretreatment levels during the first year and eventually reaches 15 percent of pretreatment levels for patients who remain in treatment 2 years or more according to Ball and Ross, 1991; and Hubbard, et al, 1986.




Crime is reduced substantially:
For example, in the most detailed study of treatment outcomes to date, Ball and Ross, 1991, showed that during the first 4 months of treatment, crime decreased from 237 crime days per year per 100 addicted persons during an average year of their addiction to 69 crime days per year per 100 patients, a reduction of more than 70 percent (p. 205), declining further to only 14.5 crime days per year for patients in treatment 6 years or more.




Fewer individuals become infected with HIV:
A study by Metzger, et al, 1993, showed that over a 3-year period, 5 percent of patients in methadone treatment became HIV-positive (over and above those already positive at admission), while among a cohort of out-of -treatment addicts in the same neighborhood, 26 percent became HIV-positive (over and above those already positive at baseline).

Individuals functioning improves, as evidenced in improved family and other social relationships, increased employment, improved parenting, etc., according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1994, and Lowinson, et al, 1992. For example, the 1992 Lowinson study of the first 15 years of methadone treatment documented employment rates of patients just below 60 percent. Even in the 1980s, when the economy weakened, crack use increased, and HIV infection rates increased dramatically, social productivity levels and employment remained at 40 percent.

Methadone has been shown to be safe. It produces no serious or long-term side effects, and may improve immune system functioning in people who have experienced the deleterious effects of heroin addiction. Methadone's clinical effectiveness has been documented in more then 300 published research studies, Hubbard, et al, 1986; Sells, et al, 1979. Furthermore, "comprehensive methadone maintenance, when combined with appropriate prenatal care, can reduce the incidence of obstetrical and fetal complications…and there is no reported evidence of any toxic effects of methadone in the woman, fetus, or child" according to the Institute of Medicine, 1995. Finally, at an annual average cost of $4,000.00 /patient, methadone maintenance treatment is cost effective as stated in the 1995 Federal Register, 1999. The Treatment Outcome Prospective Study (TOPS), analyzed the average cost of treatment; rates of criminal activities; costs to society of various crimes; economic benefits and costs. Using these data, Harwood, et al, 1988, found that for every $1 invested in treatment, $4 is recovered in social costs.

References
Ball, J.C; and Ross A., The Effectiveness of Methadone Maintenance Treatment: Patients, Programs, Services and Outcomes. New York: Spring-Verlag, 1991.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. State Methadone Treatment Guidelines (Treatment Improvement Protocol Series 1), Mark W. Parrino, Consensus Panel Chair. Rockville, MD DHHS, 1993.

64 Federal Register 39826, July 22, 1999

Harwood, H.J.; Hubbard, R.L.; Collins, J.J., and Rachal, J.V. The costs of crime and the benefits of drug abuse treatment: a cost-benefit analysis using TOPS data. In: Compulsory Treatment of Drug Abuse: Research and Clinical Practice (NIDA Research Monograph Series). Rockville, MD: DHHS 1988.

Hubbard, R.L., and Marsden, M.E. Relapse to use of heroin, cocaine and other drugs in the first year of treatment. In: Relapse and Recovery in Drug Abuse, NIDA Research Monograph 72. Rockville, MD: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986.

Institute of Medicine. Federal Regulation of Methadone Treatment, edited by Rettig, R.A., and Yarmolinsky, A. editors. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1995.

Lowinson, Joyce H., et al, Methadone Maintenance. In: Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook, Second Edition, Lowinson, J.H.; Ruiz, P; Millman, R.B.; and Langrod, J.G., editors. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1992, pp. 550-561.

Metzger, et al, HIV Seroconversion among In and Out of Treatment Intravenous Drug Users: An
18th-month prospective follow-up. AIDS (6) 9, 1993: 1049 -56.

Sells, S.B.; R.G. Demaree; and C.W. Hornick. Comparative Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Treatment Modalities, NIDA Services Research Administration Report. Washington, DC NODA, 1979.