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You have to understand opiate addiction first to understand the benefit of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Abuse of opiates changes the way your brain receptors function. Over time the receptors in the brain get use to having large amounts of opiates "trigger" it. That is why when you try to stop cold turkey you have such problems. The brain has gotten use to these high doses of opiates just to function. MMT if used properly (which most of the ppl interviewed in this article obviously were not) does not cause a high. It fills up those opiate receptors so that the person can function at what thier brain says is the new normal without making them high, sleepy or suffer from craving and/or withdrawals.
It wasn't that long ago when ppl who suffered from depression were looked down upon. Ppl thought they should be able to just snap out of it or that they couldn't just change the way they think or lord forbid that they were just seeking attention. Others looked down upon someone with depression and if you took antidepressants then you were REALLY defective and crazy. We now know that this is not true! It is a chemical imbalance in the brain that causes this DISEASE and medication is sometimes necessary to control it. Some ppl can do it with therapy alone, some ppl have to take medication along with therapy. Some ppl take medication and therapy for a while and then are able to get off the medication and have no additional problems. BUT some ppl, there chemical imbalance will never "fix" itself and they have to stay on meds for the rest of their life. Ppl understand depression now and don't treat those who suffer from it like rejects. They actually pat them on the back for seeking treatment now! Big difference than how it use to be. Opiate addiction works the same way. Some ppl can get by w/therapy alone, some ppl have to take medication along w/therapy (ORT opiate replacement therapy with methadone OR suboxone). Of those who need meds, some can take it for a bit along w/therapy and eventually their brain receptors can go back to normal and they can wean off the meds BUT there are some that their opiate receptors have been damaged by long term,severe opiate abuse and they will never heal themselves and these ppl will have to take meds for hte rest of their life. Same thing with someone w/type 2 diabetes. This is caused usually from obesity and being overweight. Some ppl can diet and exercise without meds and can get rid of the diabetes. Some ppl have to take medication in addition to diet/exercise. Of those, some will take it for a bit and be able to get off, others stay on it for the rest of their life. You don't see anyone telling a type 2 diabedic that they only have a certain amount of time to "get well" and then they have to get off the medication do you? HECK NO and you wouldn't tell that to someone with depression either. So why do ppl think it's ok to tell someone on MMT that they can't only get treatment for a certain amount of time? There is a BIG difference in being addicted to a substance and being DEPENDENT on a substance. Diabedics and ppl with hypertension have to take meds every single day to keep their illness under control. You wouldn't call them addicted to their meds would you? Even though they have to have it every single day to function? No and ppl on MMT who are doing it properly are depenedent on their meds as well. ADDICTED to a substance entails putting everything else behind the drug. It means living a lifestyle of deceit, theft and selfishness because the only thing important is getting your drugs. A stable MMT pt does not live like an addict anymore! They need the medication to keep their symptoms under control (just like a diabedic or HTN pt)
Again, someone who is using MMT as prescribed doesn't get high, they are able to function and be a productive person in society and so many are able to get thier lives back! Not all ppl who are on MMT abuse the program, there are plenty of us out there who use it properly and feel MMT saved our lives! I don't want to be on it forever but I abused opiate pain meds for over 15 yrs and that's a long time to be abusing the receptors in my brain. I have been on MMT for 10 yrs and while I eventually would like to get off, I also know that if it means MMT or living like I was in active addiction, I will stay on it forever.
The average MMT pt isn't your crazy, drug addled prostitute running around w/needles hanging out of their pockets breaking into houses and/or stealing as well as hurting everyone who cares about them. With pain pill addiction rampant, the average opiate addict is now you neighbor, your pastor, your friend your child! My husband is a career law enforcement officer, I was a nurse, we went to church, were youth pastors at our church as well as members of our praise and worship team. We were both well respected and loved in our community. I had suffered with endometriosis and female problems since I was 14 or 15 and was given narcotic pain meds for pain. I had multiple surgeries and once i got married, several miscarriages and other things that I should have dealt with properly. By the time I was 18 I abused opiate pain meds on a regular basis, by the time I was 20 it was out of control. I hid it from everyone even my future (now present) husband! Tradition therapy failed the four times I tried and I just knew I was hopeless because I couldn't seem to stop no matter what! I should have went to jail on numerous occassions, only my husband's job prevented that. So you see, the average opiate addict is the average person. I am so thankful for MMT, I felt hopeless in my addiction and saw no way out. MMT gave me my life back and helped me get my addiction under control. I am dependent on methadone to keep my symptoms at bay and the addiction under control, but I no longer live as an addict. I just wish ppl would put aside their biased ideas and see things for how they really are. They have this preconceived notion of what an MMT pt is and it isn't accurate.
PS: Studies show that most diverted methadone comes NOT from MMT clinics but from pts who are prescribed methadone by pain mgt docs. Clinic rules are very strict so that it is very difficult to divert methadone from them. Not to say it CAN'T or doesn't happen, ppl who want to can find a way around the rules, but it is much harder to divert methadone from a MMT clinic. Pain pts get a script and get it filled at the pharmacy, there is no checking up on them and counting their meds and such like at a MMT clinic. Not to mention it takes many, many months before you can even get takeouts from a MMT clinic. (that is a whole different long story that I won't go into now) If you are still reading, thanks for sticking with me. I just want ppl to understand that things aren't always how they seem and that for those of us who use MMT properly, it has been a lifesaver.
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BBC Radio 4 , The Report
The heroin substitute methadone can be used as a way of weaning addicts off heroin but the substitute can also become addictive.
Earlier this year a debate broke out in Scotland when Professor Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow, said more effort was needed to get people off drugs, including methadone, through abstinence.
The use of methadone has been controversial in recent years
But a group of 40 specialists, including university professors and doctors who treat addicts, responded: "If policy makers were to heed the critics' advice to close down methadone treatment or impose an arbitrary time limit on its administration, the community can anticipate more overdose deaths, more HIV and more crime."
So what do recovering addicts think? Chris used methadone for five years to help wean him off heroin but felt he had to quit the drug substitute last October
"I just thought, I've got to get a grip here, because I've been in and out of prison since I was 16 - that's half my life," he told The Report.
'Wake-up call'Chris, an inmate of HMP Edinburgh, lives in Ratho Hall, a specialist Addiction Support Area that helps prisoners achieve abstinence.
"I heard about Ratho Hall, and it's given me the wake-up call that I needed," he said.
Chris was prescribed methadone, a synthetic opiate that is taken orally, to wean him off his heroin addiction but although methadone can help addicts stabilise their lives, it is also addictive.
Ratho Hall is the only facility of its kind in Scotland. It opened last year in brand new accommodation.
Of the 30 inmates resident last week, 11 have become completely drug-free.
'Quitting methadone'The Scottish government produced its strategy document on drugs, The Road to Recovery, in 2008.
In this, the Community Safety Minister, Fergus Ewing of the SNP, explained how he wants to see "a new vision" for Scotland "where all drug treatment and rehabilitation services are based on the principle of recovery."
This is a shift away from an acceptance that people will stay on methadone for lengthy periods of time unchallenged.
“ When you're on heroin or methadone your head's hazy”
End Quote Chris Recovering heroin addictChris, who started to use heroin when he was 18, talked of his own addiction: "When you're on heroin or methadone your head's hazy. I realised when I was on methadone that I was just putting my life on hold.
"Now I feel that abstinence is a walk in the park compared to taking drugs. When you're abstinent you can just be yourself - it's a weight off your shoulders."
Chris said he could not have done it on his own. In Ratho Hall, there are drug counsellors, regular peer-support meetings and medical staff.
Paul Davidson, unit manager of Ratho Hall, explained how the unit works.
"If guys come in here on a methadone prescription, they have to have a reduction plan.
"So they'll be reduced at a rate they feel comfortable with and the doctor feels is right for them."
Around one in five prisoners in Scotland is being prescribed methadone.
But across the whole of Scotland it is estimated that 22,000 people are taking methadone.
Some of them may have been on it for decades. In England more than 150,000 people are receiving a substitute drug treatment for their addiction, normally methadone.
Maxie Richards, a committed Christian has been helping addicts get clean since 1986, and is a firm believer in abstinence.
Her suburban Glasgow home is an unlikely venue for drug rehabilitation.
"The majority of those I see now want to come off methadone. And it's harder to come off than heroin, it's so sad.
"It's also a very debilitating drug too, and can lead to memory loss," she explained.
James Boyd, one of the addicts who came to Maxie Richards for help, looks fit and well, but when he arrived on her doorstep in June, he was three stone lighter.
"I thought death would be better than the way I was feeling. What methadone does to you is wrecks you physically, mentally and spiritually.
"I said to myself, I can't do this any more. Every single person I know is on heroin and they are all on methadone too."
James stopped methadone and all other drugs nearly two months ago. He thinks he has got over the withdrawal symptoms now.
"It's just two weeks ago that I had my first full night's sleep."
Another former addict - Gail - is looking forward to a drug-free life.
She is slowly reducing her methadone dose with the support of her doctor. Gail has been taking methadone for eight years.
'Staying clean'"A lot of addicts use methadone as a backup plan - so when you can't get hold of any drugs, you've got something to hold you.
"I was taking heroin on top of my methadone. Then I took half of it and used to sell the rest, which I know is wrong."
Eighteen months ago, Gail started to take methadone as it was prescribed.
"When I stopped injecting and started to take my full prescription, that's when I started to feel the benefit of methadone.
"I could get up in the morning, do the housework, and attend the appointments I'd made.
For the first time in many years, Gail is planning for her future with the help of the charity Centrepoint in Edinburgh.
She wants to go into a drug rehabilitation centre to make sure she overcomes her addiction once and for all. Then she aims to find a job.
And it is her methadone prescription that is keeping her away from heroin.
Body cleansing