Second pharmacy on methadone list

A SECOND Berwick pharmacy will soon supply methadone to recovering drug addicts, the Department of Human Services (DHS) has confirmed.
A DHS spokesman told the News the pharmacy was in the process of establishing the service that is used as a form of treatment for heroin users.
But he wouldn’t confirm the exact location of the pharmacy.
“There is a need for it in the community. But it is not our role to identify individual pharmacies in that way,” he said.
He said the pharmacist co-ordinating the program was an experienced professional who already successfully supplied methadone in another of his businesses.
“These programs are well established. We want people to get treatment as close to their homes as possible in their own environment,” the spokesman said.
The News received an anonymous letter from residents in Timbarra outlining their fears about the proposal .
But the owner of the chemist in the Timbarra estate declined to answer questions from the News.
A drug treatment website describes methadone as a synthetic drug that is taken in place of heroin
“Like heroin, methadone belongs to the opiate family. While it doesn’t provide the same high as heroin, it eases the withdrawal symptoms,” the website says.
“Methadone works for longer than heroin, so it only needs to be taken once daily instead of every few hours.
“It is usually offered as syrup.”
The website says the methadone program has many benefits including:
THE person is no longer taking heroin or using needles.
WITHDRAWAL symptoms are eased, which allows the person to function in day-to-day life.
THERE is no need to commit crimes to pay for their expensive heroin habit.
The DHS spokesman said it was important the community understood the methadone program.
“Pharmacists shouldn’t be criticised for providing a vital service for recovering drug users,” he said.