A study that was funded by Britains National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse found that about half of those who followed a six-month addiction recovery program quit abusing drugs.

An Oct. 1 Associated Press article provided the following information about the study:

British researchers monitored more than 14,600 patients across England addicted to either heroin, crack cocaine, or both. Heroin addicts were treated with oral methadone for at least six months between January and November 2008. Some patients also received counseling.

Since there is no recommended substitute drug treatment for crack, cocaine addicts only received the psychological therapy. The researchers did not compare the treated addicts to addicts who tried to quit on their own.

After six months, 42 percent of heroin users reported they had stopped injecting the drug. Among crack users, 57 percent said they had stopped. About half of the people addicted to both drugs said they had either quit or cut down.

Labels: treatment

Posted By: Aspen/CRC