The chronic use of methadone, administered orally, in order to reduce the person’s need for heroin or morphine and to eliminate the “rush” that occurs when heroin or morphine is injected.
Treatment of a person with heroin addiction to reduce withdrawal symptoms and a craving for the drug. Methadone is a long-acting synthetic narcotic painkiller. Methadone maintenance treatment is used throughout the world and is considered the most effective treatment available for heroin addiction. In methadone maintenance treatment, tolerance is deliberately induced to a stable dose of methadone that is high enough to block the narcotic and euphoric effects of morphine and other opiates, including heroin.