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WASHINGTON -- Odis Rivers' victory over heroin addiction brought him Thursday to the marble halls of Congress.

Rivers, of Detroit, came to the U.S. Senate to push for passage of legislation to make more widely available a treatment he called "a miracle."

 

"It does work," Rivers said. "I'm living proof that it does."

The treatment is a drug called buprenorphine, which has been available since 2000 to help addicts wean themselves from heroin and opium-based painkillers such as vicodin and oxycontin. U.S. Sens. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the legislation. But after six years, parts of that 2000 law have made it difficult for many addicts to get what experts call a revolutionary treatment. "We have an amazing weapon," Levin said Thursday. "But it can't be a secret weapon."

 

The drug, known as "bupe," is in some ways similar to methadone, which has been in use for decades as a substitute for the heroin craving of addicts. But it is much less potent than methadone, which itself is often sold illegally and abused. While methadone is dispensed in carefully controlled clinics, the 2000 law allowed doctors, after receiving certification, to prescribe the drug at their offices.

 

"It has allowed us to change the -way we treat addiction in this country," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

 

Charles Schuster, a neuroscience professor at Wayne State University, has studied buprenorphine's effectiveness and potential for abuse. He said Thursday his studies have discovered occasional misuse -- but often, it's patients giving the drug to friends who are also trying to quit heroin.

But Congress has sharply limited the drug's use; for example, each certified doctor is allowed to treat only 30 patients at a time. Legislation to lift that limit is pending in the Senate.

Meanwhile, doctors -- perhaps hesitant because of the stigma attached to methadone clinics -- have been hesitant to receive the certification.

 

Just 1 percent of family doctors, and about 37 percent of addiction specialists, are approved to prescribe buprenorphine.

Levin and Hatch, who met Thursday with several experts who met to discuss the drug, said they are optimistic they can convince colleagues to raise some of the legal hurdles to wider use.

 

You can reach Gordon Trowbridge at (202) 662-8738 or [email protected].