After decades of abusing heroin, opiates and other drugs, Dave is now 59 years old, 64 days sober and in an out-patient treatment center called Dayspring.

He's on a new drug called Suboxone, which has been called a miracle drug similar in effect to methadone but available through specially credentialed doctors.

"We've really had increased interest from patients," Walton said. "Methadone has a stigma about it, and Suboxone has changed much of that."

It's more expensive than methadone — about $135 a week versus $80 — but it's easier to kick and has most of the same positive benefits, according to Dr. Michael Crookston said.

It's working for Dave, who has a job, is married and is living a sturdy, stable life with the help of Suboxone and the 12-step recovery program in which he believes.

"Right now I'm in no hurry to get off," said Dave.

Crookston is also a proponent of the drug and one of 50 doctors in the state able to prescribe Suboxone. "It's a life-changing drug," he said.

Not every opiate addict is willing to get on methadone. They don't want to have to go to a special facility every day to get the drug, and it has a negative connotation, he said.

The perception problem regarding methadone is one of several concerns that have plagued treatments that incorporate it over the years. A patient can go to a doctor to get Suboxone, Crookston said.

Help — for a profit

Still, not everyone is a good candidate for Suboxone, so the numbers of methadone users continue to rise.

And the growing numbers of Utah clinics that dispense methadone, recent deaths associated with the drug and the skyrocketing numbers of methadone prescriptions written by doctors are all bringing such treatment into the spotlight.

Critics in treatment arenas say privately that some centers that administer methadone aren't aggressive enough about helping people taper off the medicine.

One man who works for a statewide employee assistance program says some people complain that once they are on methadone, treatment centers seem to keep them on the drug for life. Some clients report that those who dispense methadone are uncooperative in efforts to help patients taper off the drug safely.

"The sense is that these are money pits. They take people who are suffering from a horrible illness and drain money off them by switching them to a legal addiction that they are legally licensed to maintain," the employee assistance official said. "The concern is, are they keeping people on methadone that could be getting off it?"

Pat Fleming has heard these complaints.