Methadone Vs. Drug Rehab: Are People Trading One Addiction For Another?
What’s the deal here? Why is it that people who are addicted to morphine, heroin and other opiates are put on methadone (a synthetic narcotic used for more than 30 years to “treat” opiate addiction)? Methadone is a drug that is addictive. Does it actually make sense to trade one drug addiction for another when an addict can be helped immediately through drug detox and a successful drug rehab program?
According to the official descriptions from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), methadone withdrawal symptoms are slower and easier to withstand. The theory is that when it’s taken orally once a day, it suppresses narcotic withdrawal for between 24 and 36 hours. When used as a “treatment” it gives time for the addict to eventually be weaned off drugs entirely. Or so goes the theory.
This is from the product information: “It is possible to maintain an addiction to methadone without harsh side effects . . .” and “. . . many patients require continuous treatment, sometimes over a period of years.” – Yes, folks… you read correctly. It says YEARS of methadone treatment!
If someone really wants to get help to end their addiction, why on earth would they take an addictive drug instead of using drug detox and drug rehab to handle it in just weeks, or a few months at most?
Here is another crazy fact: Methadone is given away for FREE to people on the street through methadone clinics. In many instances, people turn around and sell their methadone so they can continue to buy heroin or morphine. Methadone has been available as an illicit street drug for decades. The people on the street aren’t taking it to taper their use and eventually wean themselves off heroin or get through some form of drug rehab. They’re taking it to get stoned, and stay stoned. And by handing out free methadone we’re just keeping them addicted to opiates.
Then, there are the dangers involved in methadone use. A few years ago, the FDA issued a methadone public health advisory because it can suppress breathing and cause dangerous, and sometimes fatal, changes in heartbeat. In fact, there has been a huge rise in deaths due to methadone use – even when it’s consumed in low doses. Six percent of people carry a gene that makes methadone a life-threatening killer, according to the ONDCP.
Providing help to free addicts from the violence, crime and dwindling spiral that they will end up going down is a good thing. Handing out methadone and watching them return to continue to struggle is not. Handing out methadone to anyone for any reason is not a good thing! We have got to change our point of view, and demand some system changes that create the means for all addicts to fully recover and reclaim their lives through proper drug detox and drug rehab.
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First of all I’d like to know were you think it is that methadone is handed out for free? That is just a ridiculous notion, methadone is dispensed through clinics that have very strict rules and regulations regarding methadone dispersal, methadone treatment can cost anywhere between 50$ to 85$ dollars a week, even with the aid of insurance methadone still costs money.
Obviously you have never been addicted to opiates which is clearly a good thing, however before making such sweeping negative generalizations you should probably get your facts straight before posting such drivel.
Opiate withdraw is quite possibly one of the worst things a human being can go through, and methadone is a very effective in aleaviating the pain of withdraw, and is proven to be an effective aid in the recovery process. Methadone clinics require clients to attend weekly sessions with a therapist, some sort of involvement with 12 step groups, or rational recovery, and they also have clients do random urinalysis tests to make sure the client is staying clean.
It is just so ignorant to say that methadone is being handed out to anyone for any reason, get your facts straight!
Comment by Jeremy — May 7, 2010 @ 10:43 pm
I was addicated to oxycontin for years and tried and tried to get off it for just as long. I thought I would end up dead. The methadone clinic saved my life. Sure, it’s trading one for another, but it alleviated the withdrawal symptoms that always drove me to find more oxycontin.
I agree with Jeremy about ignorance. Dont make such sweepng judgments about something you’ve never experienced.
The methadone clinic was not free, but it was effective. I didnt have the tens of thousands of dollars it would cost for the rehab center you talked about. I had been to counseling and narcotics anonymous with no success. I kept going back to the oxy’s. At the methadone clinic I was paying about $300 per month. The clinics are very strict, they do random drugs tests (with consequences if you fail) for other drugs and they also test for methadone to make sure you are taking it and not out selling it. They monitor you closely, and require that you meet with a counselor monthly. The clinics have nurses, trained counselors and social workers, as well as doctors on staff.
On methadone, my life became managable. I was able to continue work, whereas the oxycontin was affecting my work. I worked to get off the methadone, but because I knew I was at high risk of going back to the dangerous oxycontin, I vowed that if I had to remain on methadone for the rest of my life, I would.
Instead of being so judgmental about the negatives of methadone, you should take a different look at it and be thankful that it has saved countless lives from more powerful and deadly drugs.
That includes my own life.
Comment by Kenny — June 2, 2010 @ 10:05 pm