THE ideal treatment for drug addicts is felt by many to be a drug free lifestyle, but this may not be the best approach, according to a GP working with addicts.
Dr Margaret Bourke said in a new Irish College of General Practitioners' publication aimed at helping doctors to treat drug addicts that "perhaps more appropriately the object should be to provide a functioning lifestyle".
"Only by working with drug users and trying to understand the risks they run can we begin to be accepted by them in a caring role and so be in a position to engage with them," said Dr Bourke, who has been involved in drug treatment as a GP for many years.
"As physicians we need to help patients who wish to deal with their drug habit. We do not refuse to treat alcoholics or nicotine dependent patients, so why should we refuse to treat opiate dependent patients?"
Addiction, she said, was a chronic illness, and doctors should help those who wished to free themselves from their habit "and enable them to assume responsibility for their lives - not with our values, but with theirs".
Dr Bourke, a GP facilitator in drug treatment with the Eastern Health Board, compiled a factfile, Working with Drug Users in General Practice, which was produced by the ICGP Task Group on Drug Misuse and presented to the Department of Health at the ICGP conference yesterday.
She said a two year study in Germany showed treatment to be effective if doctors were trained and the services well organised.
The ICGP factfile provides information for GPs in relation to the drug culture, problems relating to drug use in a local setting and the assessment, treatment and monitoring of patients.
The ICGP said more GPs should become involved in treating addicts. But more backup was needed, including training.