concurrent abuse of alcohol and methadone

background: opioid abuse is common in iran. in recent years, methadone maintenance therapy (mmt) has gained popularity in this country. this study aimed at evaluation concurrent abuse of alcohol in patients under mmt. methods: a predesigned questionnaire was developed and completed after obtaining verbal consent among 49 subjects under mmt in kian rehabilitation centre during january 2014. results: in total, 41 men and 8 women were included. concurrent use of alcohol reported in 0% of cases during last 24 hours, 2% in last week, 3% last month and 9% last year. men were significantly more prone to drink alcohol (p = 0.023); they mostly abused homemade alcohols. conclusion: patients under mmt are relatively prone to abuse homemade alcohols. educational programs should be focused on disadvantages of concurrent use of cns depressant alcohols in patients under mmt.