Why is methadone used for addiction treatment when it happens to be an opiate just like heroin?

Wouldn't people get addicted to methadone too? I know people started out believing that heroin is some kind of treatment for morphine addiction. What if methadone is the same way? I'm just really curious.

Methadone has already been proven to be safe and effective which is why it is used for addiction treatment. For so long as methadone is properly prescribed, it won't be sedating nor intoxicating. Its effects will not get in the way of normal activities. Its taken orally and prevents withdrawal symptoms for as long as 24 to 36 hours. Aside from that, when methadone is taken, it relieves the individual's heroin craving, the biggest cause for relapse. It is also medically safe, so even if people use it for ten years straight, it's okay. With the help of counseling and therapy, methadone will be able to bring people back their productivity and sober lives.

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publ...

I see your point and to an extent I agree with you. I was actually telling a friend this hypothesis just the other day. Methadone CAN be addicting, and people are already producing it on the black market as a recreational drug. Apparently the recreational/street form is slightly different than the medically administered form though...I think the street form is more addicting.

I think the biggest problem with Methadone isn't its addictive properties, but how well it is controlled. The fact that people are trying to produce and sell it on the streets as a recreational drug, shows that it is not well controlled.