DRUG treatment experts are concerned that hundreds of patients are being prescribed methadone, the addictive heroin substitute, against their will as part of a government crackdown on crime.

In some cases those addicted to drugs that cannot be treated with methadone, such as ecstasy and cocaine, have also been prescribed the opiate, which reduces users to a zombified state.

The drug court in Glasgow, the pilot for the Scottish executive’s flagship policy on tackling drug-related crime, sentenced all the offenders in the first six months to take methadone, according to an official report.

It is understood most of those attending the other pilot drug court in Fife were also given prescriptions of methadone. One man sentenced in the Fife drug court for crimes relating to his addiction to amphetamines, such as ecstasy and speed, was prescribed methadone.

Offenders are given the option of prison or the methadone programme. If they do not comply with the programme they face being sent to prison.

Drug treatment experts also claim that other users are effectively being forced to stay on the drug by GPs who will not help them reduce the dosage gradually.

Academics believe at least a thousand patients may have been forced to stay on the drug or had it inappropriately prescribed. They warn the practice by certain GPs will lead to thousands being addicted to methadone indefinitely.

There are thought to be 5,000 to 10,000 Scots on regular methadone prescriptions. The exact number and cost has yet to be calculated by the executive.

In areas such as Grampian the amount of methadone being provided has almost quadrupled in four years, with nearly 1,000 people now taking it at a cost of £1m.

For many it is seen as a positive way to stabilise chaotic drug-abusing lifestyles, but others claim it is more addictive than heroine and leaves users unable to lead normal lives.

Professor Neil McKeganey, head of the centre for drug misuse research at Glasgow University, believes that contrary to the stereotypical image of drug users always asking for more, a high percentage of them want to come off drugs altogether.

“A lot of drug users we have interviewed say that when they asked to come off it they were actively discouraged from doing so,” he said. “This clearly shouldn’t be happening because we should be doing everything we can to get people off such a highly addictive drug.

“Doctors should be treating the patient, not trying to stop crime in society as a whole. It is a highly addictive and dangerous drug and it is entirely appropriate that we should find out how many people are on it and why. At the minute we don’t even know.”

One woman told The Sunday Times she had asked her GP on many occasions to reduce her dosage gradually so she could come off the drug but that he refused. Because she takes the liquid while supervised by her chemist she said it was impossible to reduce the dose without her doctor’s help.

“Methadone makes you feel worse than anything else but the doctors hand it out like it’s a miracle to cure everything,” said a mother in Dundee, who has overcome her addiction to look after her children.

“Doctors just seem to dole it out even if you don’t want it.”

An executive advisory group report on psychostimulants found that there was a gap in the service for other users who could and should not be treated with methadone. It revealed how a man addicted to cocaine was prescribed methadone, which resulted in him being addicted to two substances rather than one.

Dave Liddell, head of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said: “We need to give users the chance to feel more in control of the treatment they are receiving. But sometimes there are issues with this because the clinician doesn’t believe the person will be able to stabilise.”

An executive spokesman said: “The executive set up these drug courts and we actually employ doctors to decide which medication these people should go on. Decisions are taken entirely for medical reasons so we would be very surprised if people are on it who do not want to be on it.”

Methadone emerged as a treatment for opiate addiction in the 1960s. In 1955 the Home Office was aware of 21 methadone addicts, but by 1960 the number had risen to 60. In 1969 the number reported using methadone had risen to 1,687.

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