The Effectiveness of Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Legislators, journalists and concerned citizens in general, when consider­ ing what to do about the plague of heroin addiction in large cities, ask an obvious question: "Is methadone treatment effective?" This question is a critical one since maintenance with methadone is at present the only prac­ tical alternative to leaving tens of thousands (in New York City, hundreds of thousands) of untreated addicts on the streets. Other treatments, although effective for limited groups, could not concei