NCJ Number
161025
Journal
Alcohol, Drugs and Driving Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: (January-March 1995) Pages: 31-37
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This review updates earlier surveys of the functioning of persons maintained on methadone and includes laboratory tests of cognition, perceptual and motor functioning, reaction time, and attentional functioning, as well as performance in simulated driving situations.
Abstract
The field studies included epidemiological studies of automobile driving behavior, as well as employability studies. Confirming previous findings, the review indicated that methadone maintenance treatment, when appropriately administered, does not impair functional capacity. Epidemiological studies of driving behavior indicated that methadone-maintained individuals did not differ from age- matched nondrug users or abstinent ex-heroin addicts. The data suggest that drugs such as alcohol and other depressants are more likely than methadone to pose problems in the domain of driving behavior. Another recent report indicates that the use of opiates for the management of intractable pain not only relieves suffering but also enables affected individuals to function normally; the main disability these individuals experience is censure for their presumed addict status. The analysis indicates that persons on methadone maintenance can successfully perform any task for which they are qualified and that addictive status and behavior are social-psychological phenomena as much as biological ones. 32 references (Author abstract modified)