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Methadone maintenance treatment, criminality and overdose‐related deaths : An ecological study, 1983-1999

Niveau, Gérard ; Rougemont, Anne‐Laure ; La Harpe, Romano

In: The European Journal of Public Health, 2002, vol. 12, no. 3, p. 224-227

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    Title
    • Methadone maintenance treatment, criminality and overdose‐related deaths
      An ecological study, 1983-1999
    Author
    • Niveau, Gérard. Institut Universitaire de Médecine Légale, Geneva, Switzerland
    • Rougemont, Anne‐Laure. Institut Universitaire de Médecine Légale, Geneva, Switzerland
    • La Harpe, Romano. Institut Universitaire de Médecine Légale, Geneva, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • The European Journal of Public Health, 2002, vol. 12, no. 3, p. 224-227. Oxford University Press
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:300520
    Summary
    Background: Methadone maintenance treatments (MMTs) are the commonest substitution treatments offered to opiate addiction in Switzerland, in order to reduce criminal behaviour, infectious disease transmission and overdose death. Method: To investigate the relationship between the increase in the number of methadone maintenance treatments, criminal activity of addicts and overdose‐related deaths, an ecological study was undertaken in the Canton of Geneva, from 1983 to 1999. Results: The regular and extensive increase in the number of MMTs is not significantly associated, during the 1983-1999 period, with a fall either in drug addict incarcerations or in overdose‐related deaths. However, a slight decrease is observed in the number of imprisoned opiate addicts since 1994, and a marked decrease is seen in overdose deaths from 1997 on. An important and stable number of these deaths is due to methadone itself. Conclusion: Public health objectives to diminish delinquency and overdose deaths cannot solely be fulfilled by extensive use of MMTs. A positive result could appear when access to MMT is highly favoured. This hypothesis must be proved correct by observational studies conducted on a general population