Lessons from a methadone treatment program in Laos, 1972–1975》.pdfVIP

Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 13 (1984) 89-106 89 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. Review Paper LESSONS FROM A METHADONE TREATMENT PROGRAM IN LAOS, 1972-75 JOSEPH WESTERMEYERa and CHOMCHANH SOUDALYb aDepartment of Psychiatry and bAssistant Medical Officer, Community University Health Care Clinic, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (U.S.A.) (Received January 27th, 1984) Key words: Methadone - Detoxification - Opiates - Laos I. HISTORY The methadone project in Laos was first conceived in late 1971. Two major factors contributed to its initiation. First, the Indochinese war had produced a large number of refugee opium addicts from Northern Laos. Many of these people had formerly grown their own opium or obtained their opium through their own work efforts. Previously they had not presented a distinct social or legal problem for the country at large (although they often had their own health and family problems). Once they became refugees, a number of social dilemmas arose. They would deplete t,heir limited family resources in order to obtain opium, often to the extent of even depriving their children. They also began to steal from fellow villagers in order to trade for opium [ 11. A second cause for initiating opium treatment lay in the fact that an anti- opium law had been passed by the Royal Laotian Government earlier in 1971. The law permitted