Prescribing methadone has long been a method to treat additions, but it seems as if this drug might be as controversial as it is useful.

Methadone is an opiate (opioid). That puts it in the same class of drugs such as codeine, morphine, hydrocodone, fentanyl, OxyContin (oxycodone) and others. In fact, methadone’s similarity to these drugs is why medical professionals use methadone to treat people with addictions to such drugs.

Methadone (and other opiates/opioids) bind to certain receptors on the brain to produce feelings of euphoria and relieve pain. People who become dependent on opioids become used to these feelings. Without the drugs they’ve grown accustomed to, they’ll feel terrible as they begin to go through withdrawal.

That’s where methadone enters the picture. Since methadone is so chemically similar to other opioids, using it can prevent withdrawals, since people taking it might feel as if they’re still receiving the drugs their bodies crave.

Such substitution has made methadone a controversial form of treatment. Critics say that using it merely swaps one addiction for another, that people on methadone can spend years, even the rest of their lives on methadone, and thus never be truly off drugs.

Defenders of the use of methadone say that methadone allows drug users to manage their cravings, allowing them to live productive lives free from their crippling additions. They counter that methadone is a drug, but a drug that reduces harm.

Methadone isn’t the only medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in town. Medications such as Suboxone (a combination of naloxone and buprenorphine) can help people manage their cravings and even reduce the effects of opioid overdoses. Other medications exist in implant form, and researchers and other professionals are working to develop even more types of treatments. None guarantee a cure, of course, but are potential weapons in the battle against addiction.