Question by Christina: What do you think about methadone as a treatment for heroin addiction?
Alot of people look down on iy, bu its been proved to work better than the 12 step groups and the like. If you agree its good why? If you don’t why?

Best answer:

Answer by Sick of Butt-Hurt People
“bu its been proved to work better than the 12 step groups and the like.”

Please provide evidence for this assumption.

Methadone is good for pregnant women trying to stop IV Heroin Use, what can lead to all sorts of contaminants entering the bloodstream and adversely effecting the fetus and Methadone is great for people that, basically, have to either go on it or continue activities that will result in their immediate death…

But in the long term, “maintenance” therapy does nothing but prolong the suffering of the Addicts.

Addiction is a horrific biological and mental illness that has nothing to do with the Substance or even the Actions because “Addiction” is defined as the inability to stop doing something despite mounting consequences.

Withdrawal doesn’t have anything to do with addiction.
“Only Doing It Once And A While” has nothing to do with addiction.

People that are profoundly addicted to meth/speed only do it 2 or 3 times a week and they use their delusions of “Control” to make the claim that they’re not hurting themselves… The same is said for heroin addicts.

They are on an opiate that is MORE addictive and hard to get off of than Heroin and just because they have doctors giving the opiates to them doesn’t make it any less of a “Problem”.

By giving Methadone or even Maintenance Heroin does nothing but allow the problem to continue.

By allowing the problem to continue, you are harming the addict and, more importantly, the family, friends, and culture of the addict.

An impaired parent is an abusive and abandoning parent… As the child of an addict, I think that the children of these people should be removed from their custody immediately or, if possible, get them to consent to sterilization as they do with:

? Project Prevention – Children Requiring a Caring Community
http://www.projectprevention.org/

If you can’t care for yourself, you are unable to care for others… period… end of story. Addiction does nothing but cause damage to the brain development of the offspring and cause their own addiction biology to activate at an early age and the children then go on to perpetuate the generational transmission of trauma onto THEIR kids, leading to the next generation of homeless, impoverished, victimized addicts.

By telling people they can just “Coast” on maintenance therapy, you’re telling them that they’re “Better” when they’re not… It’s a quick and temporary fix that will still almost always lead back to relapse, cross addiction, etc.

Since it isn’t legal to just put addicts down for the good of everyone around them, the way we put down rabid dogs that can’t be trained to not try to bite, we have no choice other than to get these people to do as little harm as possible to EVERYONE ELSE and this means long term TREATMENT that includes supervised withdrawal, mental health treatment, and a structured environment that will train their brain to not seek drugs as a coping mechanism.

Maintenance Therapy should be nothing more than a temporary crutch as a part of a much greater treatment program, which includes 12-Step among other types of therapy and treatment.

Suicide would be the best thing that a heroin addict could do for themselves, their children, their family, their friends, and the whole human species. It’s the only way to both stop the suffering of the addict and the way that they do nothing but cause harm to anyone they are in contact with.

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The following is a list of support groups that meet monthly:
Narcotics Anonymous, 7 p.m. First United Methodist Church, 615 W. Sixth St. Drug recovery group and info about area NA meetings. (800) 338-8750. Koinonia Recovery Group, 7:30 p.m. First Baptist Church. Faith-based drug and alcohol recovery group.
Read more on Baxter Bulletin

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Support Groups Calendar: Jan. 1-15
Narcotics Anonymous, 7 p.m. First United Methodist Church, 615 W. Sixth St. Drug recovery group and info about area NA meetings. (800) 338-8750. Koinonia Recovery Group, 7:30 p.m. First Baptist Church. Faith-based drug and alcohol recovery group.
Read more on Baxter Bulletin

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Substance abuse and addiction are a problem for millions of Americans. It’s been estimated that almost one-tenth of the population of the US has or is recovering from a substance addiction. These addictions don’t just affect the addict- they affect their entire family, their jobs, their friends, and especially their health. The reasons that substance addiction happen are almost as varied as the people that have the problems. Some people can occasionally indulge but many cannot. It is very hard for a person with a substance addiction to quit on their own, and some do not stop until it kills them.

Most times the addict knows very well that the substance they are addicted to is harmful, but they don’t have the means or the self-control to stop themselves. Almost all addicts are in some form of denial, and if you’ve watched much reality TV, you might think that an “intervention” is always the answer. Sadly, that’s not always the case- for a person to really get help for a substance addiction, they have to WANT to get help.

Why do people get addicted to things that they know are bad for them? The reasons are as different as the people are. Some people drink, smoke, or do drugs to have a bit of an escape from the stress of daily life, and when the problem that has caused the stress has been dealt with, they will keep right on doing it and a substance addiction will result.

Some people get addicted to substances that were originally prescribed by a doctor. Depressants like Valium and Xanax are particularly addictive because of the “rush” they give, and people continue to take them after they are no longer needed. Prescription substance addiction is as big a problem as illicit drug use, and teenagers are especially at risk. For them, these drugs are often readily accessible or even prescribed. No matter how the drugs are obtained, substance addiction is a serious and deadly problem.

People sometimes become addicted to substances because of boredom, or to fit in with their peers, or like we said earlier, to deal with stress or a traumatic incident. Unfortunately, the “escape” provided by the substance ends up creating a lot more problems than it solves. The substance addict will use, then get depressed, then use even more.

It’s a vicious cycle that cannot end without medical intervention.

When a person decides to finally seek help for a substance addiction, there are plenty of programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and various drug rehabilitation centers) to help them start out on the road to recovery. It is difficult to beat a substance addiction, but it’s not impossible.

Drug Enforcement Agnecy (DEA) – http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/index.htm
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) – http://www.samhsa.gov/
National Institue of Health (NIH) – http://www.nih.gov/