Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Cost benefits

Given the costs of untreated opioid dependence, methadone maintenance treatment offers significant benefits to society, which far outweigh the costs of providing treatment. American researchers have found:

• the annual costs of methadone maintenance treatment are much lower than the annual costs of either untreated heroin use, incarceration or drug-free treatment programs;³¹
• criminal activities related to heroin use resulted in social costs that were four times higher than the cost of methadone maintenance treatment;³²
• for every dollar spent on methadone maintenance treatment there is a savings to the community of between US$4-$13.³³

Similar cost benefits are being identified in Canada. In Toronto, the average social cost of an untreated person who is dependent on illicit opioids has recently been estimated to be $44,600 per year.³⁴ According to an estimate from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, methadone maintenance treatment can be provided for approximately $6,000 per year.³⁵