Methadone is an opiate that was first introduced after World War II as an alternative to morphine
. Methadone was originally thought to be less addictive because of its extremely long half life. Today, methadone is used as an analgesic for pain management and more popularly as replacement therapy for heroin and other opiate addictions. Methadone is a cheap alternative to other opiate based medications which outweighs it potency when prescribing.
In 2004 close to 4000 people died from methadone.