methadone programme as part of an overall effort to upgrade Addiction Services.

After learning a heroin addict had to wait four months to get on a methadone programme, Magistrate the Wor. Cheryl-Ann Mapp recently told probation services to find other ways of keeping the woman off drugs until she could be admitted for treatment.

Acting principle probation officer Mr. Melvin Simmons last week said a number of clients had been waiting for months to get on the methadone programme.

And Addiction Services co-ordinator Mr. Bryant Richards admitted there was a waiting list due to restrictions on the number of clients treated. At present, the programme can only accommodate 50 people.

But he said the infrastructure could no longer cope with the number of heroin addicts involved.

Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness admitted he was not aware of long waiting lists for methadone treatment.

However, he said, an extra doctor had been recently taken on to administer the methadone and monitor patients during treatment -- boosting the number of doctors to four.

Mr. Edness admitted the rise in drug abuse in recent years had put an added strain on Addiction Services.

His ministry and the National Drug Commission have hired a private firm, Benedict Associates, to supervise the six-month project.

Benedict Associates general manager Mr. Vaugh Mosher said changes would be in place by the end of June.

"The aim,'' he said, "is to improve the overall effectiveness of getting treatment to the people who need it by enhancing efficiency, case management and the whole process.''