The new rules published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are aimed at improving the quality of treatment for heroin addiction.

Under the rules, clinics that distribute methadone and other addiction-treating medication must customize therapy to addicts' differing needs, provide more physician supervision, and take other steps to prove quality.

"We want to promote state-of-the-art treatment services," said Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. "We already know every program is not going to survive this." He predicted, however, that most methadone clinics would meet the new accreditation standards.

Holly Catania of the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, a New York-based institute that advocates drug policy reform, said the new regulations are a "positive step forward." But she questioned how much the new rules would improve patient care. "I don't know if that in fact will happen from this change," Catania said. "What is disappointing is there's nothing in the regulations that would expand access to this lifesaving treatment."

Prior to the new regulations, methadone clinics were inspected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is ending their inspections, which were often criticized as inadequate. SAMHSA plans to contract with private organizations to inspect clinics and report which ones meet new government quality standards.

Clinics will have two years to comply with the new regulations.

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