[tmp-20150107]

You'd be surprised. It's definitely being sold on as an opiate to addicts in UK prisons, both from being smuggled in (small, easily concealed, innocuous looking pills) and diversion from maintenance scripts (although I would have thought in a prison environment they would simply stand over you and wait until you swallow, or force you to drink a glass of water, since unlike someone on a treatment program voluntarily there are no issues about personal liberty etc. From what I've heard, the 8mg tablets are crushed into powder, divided into eighths and sold as 1mg doses for snorting (maybe injecting, but works in prison are pretty dodgy...)

Interestingly, although the treatment center I'm with offers both Methadone and Subutex/Suboxone I was never actually given the choice between the two, or informed of the pros and cons of either. I asked, and basically I was put on Methadone treatment because I happened to mention it in one of my admission interviews. No idea if this is policy driven due to pricing or something else?

Actually, I suspect it may just be a lack of training due to low funding levels, poor compensation for staff which leads to high turnover and lower quality. Thanks, NHS.