The number of Canberrans receiving opiate substitutes has crept up in each of the past three financial years.

ACT Health wants to grant more opiate replacement treatment licences to community pharmacies, spreading the program across the territory and encouraging patients to stick with the program.

The ACT's 850 methadone and buprenorphine patients currently can receive their doses at 29 pharmacies. But Michael Tedeschi, a senior specialist with the territory's drug and alcohol program, said a ''huge percentage'' failed to last more than a few months.

''We want patients to stay on programs, we want patients to have normal lives, have babies, get married, get a job,'' he said.

The need for more participating pharmacies was raised in ACT Health's draft drug and alcohol strategy, released earlier this month.

Pharmacies are often reluctant to sign on as methadone providers given the volatility of patients.

''It's not a stigma for the pharmacy doing it, they just don't like the clients,'' Dr Tedeschi said.

''There's some shoplifting, there's occasionally fights verbal between the pharmacist and the patient as to their dose, voices can be raised.''

Michael Moore, chief executive of the Public Health Association of Australia and a former ACT health minister, said getting more pharmacies on board with the scheme was ''a very important idea''.

''What we do know is that when people who have changed to methadone, they're doing so to try and change their lifestyle,'' he said.

''The more normal that can become, the more likely they are to progress beyond heroin.''

The drug and alcohol program is currently having difficulty finding places for patients in Tuggeranong, with most of the centres at capacity.

The strategy also recommended expanding the territory's needle and syringe exchange program, but avoided the controversial issue of an exchange program in the Alexander Maconochie Centre. Even so, Dr Tedeschi said an exchange program for the jail was almost inevitable at some point.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times