Addiction Help Is Still Possible for Most
Thanks for your comments on the recent blogs on methadone. One thing I want to clarify is that it is not our intention to suggest that someone who’s been through drug rehab 17 times, has had migraines most of their life, or has degenerative physical problems or injuries that make it impossible to live a normal life should not take methadone. That’s not the point. Those are extreme circumstances and, as such, they call for extreme measures.
We’re concerned about the people who don’t have extreme situations and still wind up on methadone, or other potentially dangerous drugs and with the irresponsible prescribing of methadone and keeping people parked on it for years without ever really putting in the effort to get them through a drug rehab, without ever attempting to get them properly detox’d so they can get through withdrawal safely and without excruciating pain, without ever attempting to get their bodies back to, or maybe for the first time, functioning properly, without ever attempting to get to the bottom of why they started taking drugs in the first place and helping them resolve those issues.
This is a labor of love. We don’t see people on drugs as contemptible – although people who keep others on drugs unnecessarily or lead them to think that they can’t do otherwise are a different story. But we do see that, at times, drugs are necessary.
I would really appreciate the names of those 17 drug treatment or other programs that people have been to that did not work for them. We help people find addiction help services that have a comparatively good success rate and are suited to their situation. We would really like to know which ones you went to so we can be sure not to recommend them to others.
I would also appreciate knowing more about why you started taking drugs in the first place. Thanks again for responding.
addiction help, addiction help services, drug treatment, methadone
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A friend passed this site to me and I had to comment. Thank you, for addressing prescription drug abuse, addiction and Methadone issues in the most realistic form I have found.
When I started my organization almost two years ago it stemmed from twenty years of nursing, personally being a pain management patient, oldest son battling with addiction, and lost my 24 year old son after a doctor gave him Methadone for pain. He had no history of use or abuse of drugs and took this medication as told, only a few doses took his life. I had enough and formed Mothers Against Medical Abuse. Org.
Although we stand for many issues of medical abuse and negligence, prescription drugs, especially Methadone is our current focus. I have spent almost two years researching and investigating Methadone and my findings have been alarming. In general Methadone is one of the biggest medical marketing scams I have ever known and will most likely go down in history has one of the most controversial drugs ever distributed.
Unfortunately, Methadone is now the #1 killer of an individual prescription narcotic and thousands are dying yearly. We are heading an autopsy research project and I can confidently say you do not have to abuse this drug to die. Death can occur from a single small dose and nothing else in the system. The risk greatly increases when mixed with many variations of substances even OTC medications.
This is definitely not your average Lortab or Percocet if one is looking to get a buzz, do it Methadone and it may be your last attempt. The dangers are extremely risky and the final results are permanent. I talk to teenagers and adults, and although I do not encourage drug use or abuse, I will say, “If you are going to use or experiment please do not take this drug”.
I believe that Methadone has been given a reputation as this “wonder drug” and Pro-Methadone advocates publicly promote it’s praise. This leads to a false sense of security with many who believe it is less dangerous because, 1) It is a prescribed drug, 2) It is used to treat drug addiction. Nothing could be more false and misconceptions lead to innocent lives being lost.
Your response to Methadone as an addiction treatment was great. This is a replacement/substitution for the addicts former drug of choice. We have also found that the majority of these clinics are not detoxing these patrons but encourage years of use, some for a lifetime. Pro-Methadone advocates do not like me and I am often accused of many things. I have found their behavior to be defensive when negative remarks are made about their drug and this can be indicative of the same behavior of an active addict. Which in all purposes they still are, except with this clinical practice it is all done legally. So society is now treating addiction of opiates with opiates and call it therapy. The only winners here are the drug companies and health groups that operate the clinics. Until something is done with Rx use and abuse more will die. For some of us that reality has already occurred for others it is yet to come.
Mothers Against Medical Abuse. Org
Comment by Nancy Garvin MAMA.Org — April 12, 2008 @ 1:04 am