Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:21:58.502Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Response of Out-Patient Opiate Addicts to the Provision of a Temporary Increase in their Prescribed Drugs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Michael Gossop ,
John Strang  and
P. H. Connell
Michael Gossop
Affiliation:
The Bethlem Royal Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3BX
John Strang
Affiliation:
The Bethlem Royal Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3BX
P. H. Connell
Affiliation:
The Bethlem Royal Hospital and The Maudsley Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3BX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Addicts who use illicit drugs despite receiving a maintenance prescription present a difficult management problem for drug dependence clinics. This study looks at a small group of such addicts and at their response to the provision of a temporary increase in their prescribed opiates. The results indicate that this increase led to a reduction in illicit drug use and to improvements in social functioning. These and other findings are discussed. It is suggested that clinics should be more prepared to consider such temporary increases, but the need for careful monitoring and for the involvement of more than one member of the treatment team is stressed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 141 , Issue 4 , October 1982 , pp. 338 - 343
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blumberg, H. H. (1976) British users of opiate type drugs: A follow-up study. British Journal of Addiction, 71, 65–77.Google ScholarPubMed
Connell, P. H. (1969) Drug dependence in Great Britain: A challenge to the practice of medicine. In The Scientific Basis of Drug Dependence, (ed. Steinberg, H.). London: Churchill.Google Scholar
Dally, A. (1981) Personal view: prescribing for addicts. British Medical Journal, 283, 857.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dole, V. P. & Nyswander, M. (1965) A medical treatment for diacetylmorphine (heroin) addiction. Journal of the American Medical Association, 193, 646–50.Google Scholar
Dole, V. P. & Nyswander, M. (1967) Heroin addiction—a metabolic disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 120, 19–24.Google Scholar
Edwards, G. (1979) British policies on opiate addiction: Ten years working of the revised response, and options for the future. British Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, G. & Busch, C. (1981) The partnership between research and policy. In Drug Problems in Britain, (eds. Edwards, G. and Busch, C.). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. R. (1978a) A comparative study of oral and intravenous drug dependent patients on three dimensions of personality. International Journal of the Addictions, 13, 135–42.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. R. (1978b) A review of the evidence for methadone maintenance as a treatment for narcotic addiction. Lancet, i, 812–15.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. R. (1980) Drug dependence: The failure of treatment. Paper presented to Royal College of Psychiatrists at Royal Society of Medicine, London.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. R. (1982) Drug dependence: The mechanics of treatment evaluation and the failure of theory. In Social Psychology and Behavioural Medicine, (ed. Eiser, J. R.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Gossop, M. R. & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1980) A further investigation into the personality of drug addicts. British Journal of the Addictions, 75, 305–11.Google ScholarPubMed
Gossop, M. R. & Roy, A. (1976) Hostility in drug dependent individuals: Its relation to specific drugs, and oral or intravenous use. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 188–93.Google Scholar
Stimson, G. V. (1973) Heroin and Behaviour. Shannon: Irish University Press.Google Scholar
Strang, J. (1981) Personal view: credit companies and drug clinics. British Medical Journal, 283, 376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teasdale, J. (1972) The perceived effect of heroin on the interpersonal behaviour of heroin-dependent patients, and a comparison with stimulant-dependent patients. International Journal of the Addictions, 7, 533–48.Google Scholar
Winer, B. J. (1962) Single factor experiments having repeated measures on the same elements. In Statistical Principles in Experimental Design, (ed. Winer, B. J.). New York: McGraw-Hill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zacune, J. (1971) A comparison of Canadian narcotic addicts in Great Britain and Canada. Bulletin on Narcotics, 193, 646–50.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.