Abstract
Australia, like many other countries, has witnessed a significant increase in opioid-dependent persons since the mid-1960s, when it first became apparent that there was a need for treatment facilities. Australia’s first drug referral center opened in Sydney in 1964 as a drop-in counseling service. Following the pioneering work of Dole and Nyswander (1) in the use of methadone blockade in the United States, in 1969 Dalton et al. (2) introduced methadone into Australia as an opiate substitute. In the mid-1980s, methadone maintenance units opened up offering a range of counseling services in addition to daily methadone dosing. Methadone has continued to be the treatment of choice, with client numbers increasing from 2000 in 1985 to 26,000 in 2000. On a population basis, Australia has a higher number of clients per million inhabitants than either the United States or the United Kingdom.
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© 2002 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
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Lewis, J.H. (2002). Buprenorphine as a Viable Pharmacotherapy in Australia. In: Kintz, P., Marquet, P. (eds) Buprenorphine Therapy of Opiate Addiction. Forensic Science and Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-282-1_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-282-1_6
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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