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Guangzhou government has been promoting methadone replacement therapy among drug addicts in a bid to curb narcotics use.

Three methadone clinics were opened in this southern city last September. Since then, 286 people signed up to receive the therapy, though 20 of them eventually quit the program.

Methadone, a synthetic narcotic, is accepted as a tool to help reduce addicts' craving for drugs. It also deters them from using hypodermic needles that can spread HIV/AIDS and other blood-transmitted diseases.

Moreover, those who take methadone are able to work and live a relatively normal life instead of having to deal with the physical deterioration associated with heroin addiction.

"The three clinics are located in three different districts, and we intend to set up more," Chang Haixiang, director of Guangzhou's anti-drugs bureau, said.

"We hope each of Guangzhou's 10 districts will have at least one clinic."

However, the program is still awaiting central government approval, so no timeframe is in place, Chang said.

At a clinic, a cup of methadone drink costs 10 yuan (US$1.30), while an addict has to pay about 150 yuan a day to maintain a heroin habit.

"The therapy will ease the financial burden and help reduce crime caused by drug addicts," Chang said.

However, methadone is only a substitute for drugs, rather than a cure for addiction. Addicts, especially those who have tried and failed several times to quit taking drugs, must take methadone once a day over a long period of time, Chang said.

He said it would be better for people who had just started taking drugs to get help quitting them altogether, rather than just replacing them with methadone.

There are eight compulsory drug rehabilitation centers in Guangzhou. They house about 1,100 drug addicts. In total, about 10,000 addicts receive treatment at the centers each year.

Guangzhou is the first city in the country to cover the living expenses of addicts who are receiving compulsory drug treatment, Zhu Min, the director of the Guangzhou public security bureau's drug rehabilitation center, said.

Six months of treatment cost about 3,550 yuan. Most people receive between three and six months of treatment.

Guangzhou has about 20,000 registered drug addicts. However, the real number is much higher, according to the drug-fighting bureau.

(China Daily June 29, 2007)