1. I’m a family physician. For the past two years, I’ve been following a user who takes opioids once or twice a week on average. He has to take his dose of methadone in front of a pharmacist four days a week. This user would like to have more take-home do

The main criterion in deciding to allow take-home doses of methadone or buprenorphine is the user’s level of organization. A person who uses is not necessarily disorganized. It’s important to have an overall picture of his situation, which includes:

• attendance at medical appointments;
• the progress of treatment and behaviour with the health care team and at the pharmacy;
• overall health and living environment;
• ability to keep the take-home doses in a safe place;
• understanding of the risks associated with the medication for himself and other people (for example, make sure the user clearly understands the risk of taking two doses in the same day and that a dose of methadone can be fatal for someone who doesn’t normally take opioids).