methadone treatment centre for heroin addicts in the 1970s.

But the privately-funded programme soon folded because of a lack of support, Addiction Services head counsellor Mr. Bryant Richards told Lions yesterday.

However, the Island continues to take a pioneering approach today in treating heroin addicts.

Mr. Richards made the comments in clearing up "misinformation'' about the centre's methadone treatment programme.

He also called on drug experts to deal with why Bermudians were becoming addicted to substances and turning to drug dealing to make a living.

"We have to deal with why our young people are disenfranchised,'' he said.

"Why are they angry -- are they not getting a piece of the pie? I see kids that have BA's and MA's but who can't get a job and have turned to drugs to make a living.'' Mr. Richards added he was "amazed'' at the qualifications and expertise of some of the men and women he was treating for drug addiction.

Attention was focused on the methadone programme this week following a theft and disclosures it was overstretched and struggling to find places for the more than 30 heroin addicts on its waiting list.

Mr. Richards said the theft of a quantity of methadone from the centre was a sign of how serious the Island's heroin problem was.

Indicating he believed the culprit attended the centre, he said counsellors often forgot they were dealing with mostly dishonest people.

Responding to criticism of the drug being used to treat heroin addiction, he said, "Under controlled conditions methadone has a viable place in our treatment plan...It takes away the need for an individual to use heroin.'' He added though, methadone was only one tool in the treatment of heroin addicts.

He said methadone was a synthetic drug introduced by the Germans in the Second World War as a substitute for morphine, which the country had run out of.

Today it was used to stabilise heroin addicts, who could go for several hours on methadone without suffering any of the painful withdrawal symptoms such as seizures and sharp body pains.

However, if abused or mishandled, he conceded methadone could have "serious repercussions''.

Residential methadone treatment programmes, such as the one Bermuda had in the 1970s, were the trend in America today, he said.

Mr. Richards said after he took over Addiction Services in 1980, the first thing he did was overhaul the heroin programme.

After conducting considerable research, he found that a 120-milligramme dose of methadone was enough to keep a heroin addict occupied long enough for the person not to need the drug.

He added it was soon learned a 40-milligramme dose would suffice except in extreme cases. Normal maximum dosages in America have also been lowered to less than 100 milligrammes.

Differences between US and local methadone programmes, he said, include mandatory counselling, urine screening, participation in meetings and follow-up counselling.

Addicts were not taken off the programme until they were comfortable about ending the treatment, he said.

And stringent checks were made to ensure that people coming in claiming to need methadone were really addicted to heroin.

It was not often that he was "caught out'' he said, as most heroin users were known to him or other counsellors because of the size of the community.

Addiction Services did not take the US view that it was better to give heroin addicts enough methadone and release them onto the street in order to prevent them turning to serious crime.

The centre believed in helping every addict overcome his or her habit.

"In my 20 years I have had enough disappointments and have been burned enough, but I still believe people do not set out to become addicts. I believe drug abusers are generally good people.'' Mr. Richards recalled how in the 1970s he was one of the original members of "The Group'' at Admiralty House, which offered counselling sessions for marijuana users.

"Marijuana was the drug of choice back then,'' he said. "There was only (slight use) of heroin and cocaine was used by movie stars and the wealthy.'' "The Group'' was also short lived, "Probably because Government felt the drug problem had gone away,'' he said with laugh.

Mr. Richards said he was committed to his job despite the high burn-out rate.

"I love working with people and I just hate to see people out there destroying their lives,'' he said.

Mr. Richards said he intended to remain a counsellor until it became "just a job''.

He revealed he was going to university in autumn to get his Master's Degree in substance abuse management.