METHADONE MISUSE/ABUSE - A NEW PATTERN IN USA?

From the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, comes a report of an increase in heroin dependence. Police officials there are quoted as saying the dependence in many instances is initiated by misuse - including by injection - of methadone prescribed for pain: "... doctors are prescribing methadone ... and the people who are becoming addicted to it are basically becoming heroin addicts." This may be - but for decades there was no evidence in America that methadone misuse by injection was a problem of any significance, or that it was the initial opiate used by those seeking treatment for addiction. Click for the full news article from Michigan: