Methadone Abuse

Methadone abuse is a very severe problem and millions of unsuspecting individuals have fallen prey to the illusion that taking Methadone would somehow handle their addiction to other drugs such as heroin or other opiates. There is much controversy surrounding the use of Methadone for the treatment of opiate addicts, a practice which is prevalent since the early 1960s.

Methadone is a synthetic drug, an opiate narcotic which, when administered orally once a day, in adequate doses, can usually suppress a heroin addicts withdrawal and cravings for 24 hours. Patients are as physically dependent on Methadone as they were to heroin or other opiates, such as Vicodin or OxyContin. Methadone is a drug substitute for heroin; it is not a cure for addiction. 

Methadone abuse is a serious problem. In blind trials, users who were given both heroin and methadone orally were unable to distinguish between the effects of one to the other. As compared to other opiates, such as heroin, in which the withdrawal period is a week to 10 days, heavy Methadone users can expect severe withdrawal symptoms to last up to 5 or 6 weeks.

As a highly promoted substitute drug designed to replace heroin, Methadone is often used by those seeking to free themselves of addiction. However, 1 for 1 these individuals discover that they become hooked on Methadone relatively immediately and when they attempt to withdraw from this legally prescribed drug the pain and discomfort far exceeds that of withdrawing from their original drug of choice.

Many former heroin users have claimed that the horrors of withdrawal from heroin were far less difficult and painful than withdrawal from Methadone abuse. When "Methadone Treatment" was invented, it was meant to be a 20-day process to help ease the pain of withdrawal from opiate abuse. Today, Methadone treatment facilities are run based on their financial success, on profit from their customers. Think about it for a minute: if a Methadone treatment center is licensed to treat 150 individuals and they are currently only treating 149, you are not going to get off Methadone. This is due to the fact that they need you as a customer. Of course this is not true in 100% of the cases, but is very often the way it goes.

Many advocates of Methadone promote that it curbs risky behavior by offering a non-intravenous solution to drug use thereby avoiding the spread of infectious disease like HIV or Hep C as well as removing the legal barriers associated with usage of street drugs like heroin. Skeptics to this opinion state that while there are truths to the removal of some risky behaviors associated with illegal drug use the side effects of this drug are extremely detrimental and the only real solution to an addiction to opiate based drugs is a drug free approach leaving the person un-enslaved by any drug.

Methadone is in such demand due to its promotion as a heroin alternative and potent drug that black market street sales of the drug have sky rocketed over the last few years. Unfortunately, Methadone is in large supply from street dealers who acquire the drug through various illegal and unsafe means. Many addicts of heroin prefer the high they get from combining Methadone with heroin because they claim it drastically increases the euphoric effects of heroin. This, of course, is a deadly combination and many have died from overdose trying to reach the “ultimate high”.

Today, an estimated 1 million Americans abuse heroin. About 120,000 people take Methadone, a synthetic opiate, to control their heroin addiction. More than 80% of Methadone patients stay on Methadone treatment for 1 year or longer and about 20% stay on Methadone for more than 10 years. Many experts do not agree that the trading of opiate addiction for Methadone addiction is a step in the right direction. Methadone is one of the most difficult drugs to detox from, since its effects are long-lasting and Methadone is readily stored in the body's tissues.

If you or someone you love is currently considering Methadone maintenance as an alternative to heroin or other opiate addiction, please give us a call. We’ll be glad to help you in many ways to either safely end your Methadone use or locate a safer drug-free alternative to Methadone that will assist you in regaining your life back.

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