Detoxification from heroin using self vs physician regulation of methadone dose.

Self-regulation of methadone dose during detoxification was compared to a fixed dose schedule. Self-regulators tended to maintain themselves on a stable methadone dose until forced to detoxify, but used less heroin and remained in treatment longer than the control group. The results suggest that a longer initial period of methadone stabilization may be useful in enabling addicts to detoxify successfully.