It is estimated that the cost to society of treating drug addicts with methadone in England alone is £3.6bn a year and around 150 thousand people are on a methadone treatment programme in the UK right now.
Critics of the methadone treatment programme say all it does is replace an illegal addiction with a legal one and that many users are dependent on the drug for years.
Supporters say as its dispensed in a non-injectable form its better for the health of addicts, protects society from infection and takes the need away for stealing or committing crime to buy drugs.
Martin Duffy was prescribed methadone for 10 years. He told BBC Radio 5 live’s Tony Livesey “the Doctor told me I would be on methadone for life†and “I gave up on lifeâ€.
