Methadone 'fails to reduce heroin use or cut crime'

Professor Neil McKeganey from Glasgow University's Centre for Drug Misuse Research, was involved in research that found that people on methadone still take heroin and still commit crimes to pay for their habit.

The study, carried out by a group at Glasgow University, set out to examine whether addicts who were given methadone used heroin less often than those receiving other forms of treatment. It also considered to what extent those on methadone "topped up" with heroin.

The researchers looked at more than 400 drug users, including 68 who were on a methadone regime at the start. They found "there was no significant difference between the methadone-maintained sample and the other interviewees in their propensity to abstain from heroin use".

The study did find that those on methadone took heroin on fewer days over the last three months, falling by 52 days, compared with 36.4 days among those receiving other treatments. But it said those on a high dose of methadone were not significantly more likely to have reduced the number of days they took heroin than those on a low dose. The study also found "there was no significant tendency for acquisitive crimes to fall faster among those receiving methadone treatment than in the rest of the sample".

McKeganey said the research "raises the question about the opportunities for reducing the size and scale of Scotland's methadone programme", which he said had become "gargantuan in size and scale, with some 22,000 addicts on methadone".

McKeganey said: "One of the major drivers for the methadone programme in Scotland has been the belief that by providing methadone there will be a substantial reduction in the crimes addicts commit. What this research has identified is that that is not being borne out. With a methadone programme in Scotland that is costing, at a conservative estimate, 25m a year, there is a big question mark about whether we should be providing more methadone to more addicts."

Tory leader Annabel Goldie said the argument that giving addicts methadone will lead to a reduction in crime has been lost. "I have never disputed that methadone has a part to play in providing a bridge for some addicts between dependency and recovery, but this new analysis shatters one of the alleged benefits of a widespread methadone harm reduction programme – namely, less crime committed by addicts."

The Scottish Government launched a drugs strategy in May that focused on helping addicts become drug-free. Ministers said then that at least 94m would be spent over three years.

A Government spokeswoman said: "Evidence shows that methadone can help stabilise those at risk of falling back into chaotic lifestyles and that it is both valuable and necessary.

"However this must be integrated more effectively with... housing, employment, psychological support. The drugs strategy recognises the need to help people move on from methadone through other treatments.

"Goldie said: "The drive now is to make things change on the ground."