Legal Services as a Tool in Treating the Addict
JOYCE LOWINSON M.D.1,
JOHN LANGROD M.A.2, , and
LEWIS ALPERIN LL.B.3
1 Medical Director, Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Bronx State Hospital, 1500 Waters Place, Bronx, N.Y. 10461
2 Director of Research, Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Bronx State Hospital, 1500 Waters Place, Bronx, N.Y. 10461
3 Counsel, Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Bronx State Hospital, 1500 Waters Place, Bronx, N.Y. 10461
Since many patients in methadone maintenance treatment programs have legal problems, the authors suggest that such programs employ an attorney to help them. They discuss the attorney's role in allaying patients' anxieties about the legal system, in guiding them through it, and in educating the courts about methadone maintenance programs. They also present data on the kinds of offenses addicts in their program committed in a one-year period.
