Abstinence Orientation Scale | Disapproval of Drug Use Scale | Knowledge of the risks and benefits of MMT |
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1) Methadone maintenance patients who continue to use illicit opiates should have their dose of methadone reduced. | 1) Marijuana should be legalized. | 1) Methadone, in a stable dose as partof a maintenance regime, blocks the euphoric effects of heroin and prescription opioids. |
2) Maintenance patients who ignore repeated warning to stop using illicit opiates should be gradually withdrawn off methadone. | 2) Modern society is too tolerant toward drug addicts. | 2) Withdrawing from methadone ‘cold turkey’ is definitely worse than withdrawing from heroin. |
3) No limits should be set on the duration of methadone maintenance. | 3) Drug addiction is a vice. | 3) Methadone maintenance can cause chronic constipation. |
4) Methadone should be gradually withdrawn once a maintenance patient has ceased using illicit opiates. | 4) Marijuana use among teenagers can be healthy experimentation. | 4) Methadone Maintenance can cause disturbance of sexual function. |
5) Methadone services should be expanded so that all narcotic addicts who want methadone maintenance can receive it. | 5) Drug addiction is a menace to society. | 5) Methadone maintenance can cause kidney damage. |
6) Methadone maintenance patients whocontinue to abuse non-opioid drugs (e.g. benzodiazepines) should have their dose of methadone reduced. | 6) Persons convicted of the sale of illicit drugs should not be eligible for parole. | 6) Methadone maintenance can cause liver damage. |
7) Abstinence from all opioids (including methadone) should be the principal goal of methadone maintenance. | 7) To the unborn child, methadone is more dangerous than heroin. | |
8) Left to themselves, most methadone patients would stay on methadone for life. | 8) Methadone given in a stable dose aspart of a maintenance regime significantly interferes with the ability to dive a car. | |
9) Maintenance patients should only be given enough methadone to prevent the onset of withdrawals. | 9) Methadone maintenance reduces addicts’ criminal activities. | |
10) It is unethical to maintain addicts on methadone indefinitely. | 10) Methadone maintenance decreases addicts’ risk of dying. | |
11) The clinician’s principal role is to prepare methadone maintenance patients for drug-free living. | 11) Methadone maintenance reduces addicts’ consumption of illicit opiates. | |
12) It is unethical to deny a narcotic addict methadone maintenance. | 12) Methadone maintenance increases the severity of preexisting depression. | |
13) Confrontation is necessary in the treatment of drug addicts. | 13) Methadone maintenance reduces the risk of transmission blood borne diseases. | |
14) The clinician should encourage patients to remain in methadone maintenance for at least three to four years. |