Drugs of abuse--opiates.

Treating opiate-dependent patients can be difficult for many physicians because the patients' life-styles, values, and beliefs differ from those of the physicians. Primary care physicians, however, are often involved in the treatment of the medical complications of opiate abuse, and physicians must often manage a patient's opiate dependence until appropriate referral to a drug abuse treatment program can be arranged. Treatment is guided by an understanding of the patient's addictive disease, for which there are specific diagnostic criteria, and an understanding of the pharmacology of opiates of abuse and the medications used in treating opiate dependence. The opiate agonist, methadone, is useful for both detoxification and maintenance. The opiate antagonist, naloxone, is the treatment of choice for opiate overdose, and naltrexone, also an opiate antagonist, is a useful adjunct in subgroups of opiate-dependent patients for preventing relapse. New medications for the treatment of opiate dependence are being developed.