The former First Minister, Jack McConnell, announced a review of the place of methadone in drug treatment programmes on 6 March 2006 following the death of 2 year old Derek Doran. This review was conducted at the same time as the wider inter-departmental programme of work being undertaken across the Executive on children in drug abusing households.
There is increasing public, political and media interest in the use of methadone in drug treatment and in the perceived public risk posed by ‘leakage’ into the wider community, particularly in relation to children.