Real people share their stories of opioid substitution treatment (OST)

Welcome to this collection of stories from people brave enough to share their experience of opioid substitution treatment (OST).

Why brave? Because the people who use opioids have historically been seen as ‘the worst’ – using heroin was seen as ‘the end of the line’ and unfortunately, for some, it was. But it’s not only those actively caught up in the tangled web of opioid dependence who have been maligned; so too have people in treatment who are accused of “simply swapping one drug for another.”

Methadone in particular has been misunderstood as a treatment – yet thousands of people have used or are using it as part of their recovery from a dependence on opioids. We know that thousands of Kiwis have regained their lives through the stability that OST offers. And the stories here are testament to the potential of OST.

Updates to Need help? section

In October 2025, updates were made to the Need help? section, as some support services were no longer available. The hard copy booklet was printed before these updates were made, so will contain these out-of-date services.

The following support services are no longer available:

• Family Drug Support: 0800 FD SUPPORT (0800 337 887)
• Zoom to Noon www.mherc.org.nz/zoom/zoomtonoon
• Choice not Chance: www.choicenotchance.org.nz