Current Comment

ADDICTION LIABILITY OF METHADONE  Methadone, one of the newer synthetic analgesic drugs, has found wide usage as a substitute for morphine to relieve pain. In therapeutic doses methadone produces less sedative or hypnotic effects than morphine. The pharmacologic properties of the drug are already well established, as well as the fact that it is capable of producing addiction, similar to that produced by morphine. The addiction liability of methadone and tolerance to its analgesic action have been the subject of previous reports warning against this inherent danger.¹ Because methadone is not an opiate, physicians may have underestimated its addiction potentiality, despite the fact that the drug has been made subject to all the provisions of the Harrison Narcotic Act. Studies of morphine addicts have shown that while methadone produces less physical dependence than morphine, it does produce sufficient euphoria, emotional dependence and signs of abstinence on withdrawal to make