Drug Abuse at Sea:

Methadone (met, linctus, physeptone)

Description

Methadone is an opiate. This means that it falls into the same group of drugs as heroin and morphine which are derived from the opium poppy. Methadone however is artificially produced. The brand name for methadone is physeptone.

Methadone usually comes in the form of a green or blue syrup or linctus but it also comes in injectable and tablet forms. Methadone is prescribed to people who take heroin or other opiates to help reduce the risk of their illicit drug use.

Administration

Methadone can be ingested or injected. Methadone syrup/linctus contains a substance that makes it painful and potentially dangerous to inject.

Associated Equipment

Equipment may consist of hypodermic syringes and needles.

Degree of Addiction

Psychological addiction:    strong
Environmental addiction:    strong
Physical addiction:               strong
Body tolerance:                     high

Influence and Symptoms

Like heroin methadone is a painkiller, making the user feel drowsy and giving a feeling of warmth. The sense of wellbeing and absence of stress produced is much less intense but much longer acting than that produced by heroin. The effects of methadone are much longer lasting than for heroin and therefore it is not usually necessary to take it more than once every 24 hours. As with heroin if injecting equipment is shared there is the added risk of dangerous infections being spread such as HIV and hepatitis B or C.