Heroin is a highly addictive substance. It does not leave the user easily. Even if the patient has been put through a month-long detoxification program, there is no guarantee that the person will not have a relapse with heroin. The heroin treatment program in Maine understands that an addiction cannot be treated just through bodily treatment; it needs to be treated from the mind. The tendency in the person to have any more of the substance should be removed. This is when the recovery has real permanence.

This is why the maintenance medication is rated so highly in the addiction treatment program in Maine. Today, the most common maintenance medication used for heroin addiction treatment in Maine is buprenorphine. This substance is an opioid, just like heroin is. The idea is to introduce another opioid in the body of the person so that the person finds it easier to come over the craving of heroin. It is very easy to wear the person away from the buprenorphine habit later on. Today, medications such as Subutex and Suboxone, which contain buprenorphine in them, are used effectively as maintenance treatments for heroin addiction.

The administration of the medication begins during the detoxification process itself, because it is important to bring the person out of the craving for heroin right from this phase. The dosage provided during the detox is high, but as the person gradually comes out the dependency for heroin, the dosage is slowly reduced till the person is completely out of the habit.