Restoring the Double Disconnect: Towards a Conceptual Reinstatement of Opiate Addiction as a High Risk Behaviour

Please cite this paper as: Reece AS. Restoring the Double Disconnect: Towards a Conceptual Reinstatement of Opiate Addiction as a High Risk Behaviour. Int J High Risk Behav Addict. 2012; 1(2): 47-9. DOI: 10.5812/ijhrba.6936 Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: The fact that the long term health effects of opiates have been seriously underestimated is a potent stimulus to the quest for new forms of analgesia which are less damaging, contraindicates indefinite opiate agonist maintenance programs such as methadone, argues against heroin trials, and suggests that understanding why addicts get so many disorders of advanced aging would greatly improve our treatment not only of opiate dependency but also of degenerative disorders of the elderly such as atherosclerosis, neuropsychiatric disease, cancer and ageing. It also powerfully underpins law enforcement and harm prevention efforts.