Prescription of narcotics to drug addicts? decision aids and guidelines for problem situations

The proposal is presently being discussed in public that further spread of HIV-infections should be prevented by prescribing substitute drugs. As a rule, no narcotic drug should be prescribed to addicts--to this rule there are a few quite specific exceptions. For instance opiate substitution may be indicated in drug addicts with advanced AIDS who are so debilitated that detoxification measures can no longer be applied, for example by oral long-acting levomethadone. For this particular situation, treatment guidelines are proposed.

Published by Fortschritte der Medizin, 1991. The guideline itself is at the source linked here.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2032675/