???????? Should heroin addicts be given free opiates in the form of methadone by the government? Why or why not? A variety of therapeutic drugs are used to treat drug addiction, including disulfiram for alcoholism, nicotine replacement for smoking dependence, antidepressants for cocaine dependence, and the most controversial of all, the opioid methadone to treat dependence on the opioid heroin. It may seem ironic, indeed paradoxical, to use drugs to treat problems with drugs.