Prevalence of diversion and injection of methadone and buprenorphine among clients receiving opioid treatment at community pharmacies in New South Wales, Australia

The higher prevalence of buprenorphine diversion compared to methadone diversion is likely to be due to its sublingual tablet formulation and difficulty associated with supervising its consumption compared to that of an oral liquid. Methadone diversion is also less prevalent likely due to the high levels of methadone takeaway provision, which also helps to explain the higher levels of recent methadone injecting compared to buprenorphine injecting. A clearer understanding of the motivations for diversion and injection of opioid pharmacotherapies, and the relationship between them is required.