A pharmacist dispenses methadone into a cup. The drug can be used as part of a successful treatment program for addictions to more serious opiates such as heroin. (Leslie Young/CBC)

Methadone use as a means of treating addiction is on the rise in Ontario, but medical professionals say a lack of doctors willing to prescribe the drug in the Ottawa region is delaying access to the treatment.

Just three doctors in the Ottawa area prescribe the drug, which people use as a means of battling addictions to more dangerous opiates such as heroin or morphine.

Dr. Robert Cushman, the head of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network, said that has led to unmet demand for the drug. Wait times can also vary from a month at a specialized clinic or longer than a year when obtaining a prescription from a doctor.

Between clinics and doctors, about 650 people in the Ottawa region are able to access methadone treatment programs.

"We estimate that roughly about fifty percent of those who should have it are getting it," said Cushman.

Sean LeBlanc, 33, is one of the people who did get treatment, and he says it helped him get clean five years ago after an addiction to painkillers.

He said he is now halfway through a degree at Carleton University, and working as a peer counsellor with the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health, all with the help of methadone.

He said people shouldn't have to wait for what he considers essential treatment.

"People are dying. I knew two people just last week that overdosed. Two people," said Leblanc. "One of them was a 26 year-old man. And I find that just reprehensible."

Close to 28,000 use treatment in 2010

Methadone treatment has become increasingly popular in Ontario. In 2007 there were 17,690 methadone patients in the province, according to the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.

In 2009 that number had risen to 25,396, and in 2010 it is expected to rise to close to 28,000.

Dr. Lisa Bromley, one of three doctors in the Ottawa region who prescribes the drug, said the lack of medical professionals willing to prescribe it is a mystery to her. But she said it might be due to the stigma that often comes with addiction.

"Certainly addiction is a stigmatized illness," said Bromley. "Certainly when I talk to acquaintances or meet someone at a conference and they hear that I am a methadone prescriber they say 'Wow, that must be really hard.' So there is this perception perhaps among doctors that this is difficult work to do."

"I don't know, I think brain surgery is hard, but what I do is rewarding," said Bromley, who works in the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre. LeBlanc said treatment of addictions should be no different from any other illness.

"I think it's all about saving lives," said LeBlanc. "And if a simple drink every day can save someone's life, would you deny it to them? Would you deny someone who need insulin? Of course not. Personally I don't see a difference, a sickness is a sickness."

Clinics shouldering load

The lack of doctors handling the drug has forced methadone clinics to shoulder more of the load in dispensing the drug.

While wait times to see a doctor here in Ottawa for methadone treatment are a year and longer, people with addictions can usually get in to see someone at one of two Ottawa-area clinics in about a month.

But medical professionals said clinics can't provide the care that comes from one-on-one work with a doctor, in large part because people who require methadone also have other medical issues.

"The problem with opiates is it a bit more complicated than alcohol or cocaine," said Jean Francois Martinbault, who works with addicts through a program called Oasis. "There's more health needs. A person might have a chronic condition and a substance-use order so it gets very complicated."

"Your family doctor really understands you and can have a direct impact on your life so it's a very good point of access for health," said Martinbault.

Cushman said a planned residential drug treatment centre for youths aged 13-17 would eliminate some of the pressure off the clinics and doctors and also help people who do seek treatment to get other care as well.

"Methadone in and of itself is one piece of [treatment], but we also need to have comprehensive primary care to go along with it," said Cushman. "Because a lot of these people have major needs."

With files from the CBC's Leslie Young