"Bupe" is an alternative to methadone that comes in pill form and can be prescribed in doctor's offices and other non-clinical settings. The drug also is seen as having fewer side-effects than methadone. But only about 1,000 addicts in New York are using bupe, compared to the 34,000 who are on methadone.

Lloyd Sederer, the health department's executive deputy commissioner, said the city's goal is to have 100,000 opiate addicts on bupe by 2010. "We are not reaching enough people with the treatments that we have," Sederer said. "Not everybody should be on methadone."

Currently, only 345 doctors in all of New York state are authorized to prescribe bupe. Experts say that bupe patients are more likely to be able to hold down jobs because of the drug's milder side-effects, and that white-collar addicts are more likely to seek help at a doctor's office than at a methadone clinic.

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