Methadone Treatment and Legal Supervision: Individual and Joint Effects on the Behavior of Narcotics Addicts

Abstract

This study investigated the individual and joint effects of methadone maintenance treatment and of legal supervision that included drug use testing (e.g., parole or probation) in improving the behaviors of narcotics addicts. Subjects were 202 clients selected from a sample of admissions to methadone clinics in southern California. The subjects selected had experienced all intervention conditions (methadone maintenance alone, legal supervision/drug testing alone, both interventions simultaneously, and neither intervention) in their addiction careers. Extensive interviewing of subjects provided longitudinal self-report data on various characteristics and behaviors. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to test for statistical differences. Overall, the individual effect of methadone maintenance and of legal supervision was better than that of the no-intervention condition in improving drug use and criminal behavior by narcotics addicts. Methadone maintenance alone showed a broader range of improvement (e.g., in employment) and greater magnitude of improvement than did legal supervision alone. The combined effect of these two intervention conditions was not significantly better than that of methadone maintenance alone, except on abstinence from narcotics use.