AHS Views

The recent death of a 16-year-old girl provides an excellent example of why people have to be warned about the dangers of methadone: Two girls living at a facility for teen substance abuser stole methadone from an employee. Not getting high as they had obviously expected to, the girls continued to take more methadone throughout the night, eventually fell into a coma, and one died. Obviously, both girls were in need of addiction help and neither should have been exposed to any drugs.

Karla Ramirez, the aunt of the girl who is in recovery, explained, ”When the effects didn’t hit right away, they just kept taking more pills. They had no idea what they were dealing with.”

And that pretty much sums up the methadone problem - people just don’t know what they’re dealing with. It’s a tricky drug. You don’t feel the usual effects you would expect from an opiate, other than having it kill pain, and, consequently, either take more methadone or take another drug on top of it. This results in overdose and, sometimes, death. They go to sleep and never wake up.

Another unfortunate result of this incident is that the home where this occured will no longer have people who need addiction help services referred there by officials in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, and another group home was also cut off. How many people won’t be able to get the addiction help they need due to the criminal neglect of one employee?

The facility is no longer  

T, but rather than getting the help they need

While we may think being dependant on a drug isn’t the best way to go through life, we’re not alone. Many people dependent on drugs, including people on MRT, agree with that. We do recognize that some people have simply run out of options and that without methadone or some other drug they wouldn’t be able to get through a day. We’ve discussed that in several blogs and made it clear that those are not the people we’re concerned about and that the blogs regarding methadone are not directed to them. We never get comments on those blogs, by the way. But if we relay any factual information about the number of methadone-related deaths, or about a specific person who died, or about someone needing addiction help to get off it, we’re immediately inundated with people defending it and telling us to get our facts straight.

Excuse me - we’ve been involved in the field of drug rehab for a long time. We’ve helped thousands of people get off drugs - including heroin. Some of the people writing these comments are former heroin addicts who couldn’t stop taking it and turned to methadone instead. Exactly what qualifies that person as an expert in drug rehab?

The fact is, methadone is being abused all over the U.S. - and in other countries. The fact is, there are more methadone-related deaths than there are deaths related to heroin. The fact is, some of the people who die are kids. And, some of them get the methadone from parents who are on MRT. I wrote a blog some time ago about a toddler who picked up a methadone pill from the floor, ate it, and died. The pill had gotten buried in the couch and shaken out when the cushions were straightened. It fell on the floor without the parents noticing. Now their kid is dead. One of his parents was on MRT. And that’s not an isolated incident.
 
What would you have us do? Ignore the fact that it’s a dangerous drug and never say anything about it just in case we offend someone? Do you want us to play down the dangers of methadone so you don’t feel bad - so you don’t feel ‘attacked’ because you’re taking it? Well, sorry, if that’s what you want, it’s not going to happen. Methadone might not be killing you, but it has killed a lot of other people. We’re going to keep telling people about it. And we hope that by doing so, we’ll save some lives.

Your comments, on the other hand, that justify and defend methadone, that make it look acceptable, that suggest taking methadone is no different than a diabetic taking insulin to prevent themselves from suddenly going into a coma they may never come out of, may well make the drug seem safer than it is. And that could kill someone. Maybe you should think about that instead of being riveted on defending yourself. You want to take methadone? Fine. You need to take methadone? That’s understood. But don’t make it look like it’s a good thing. It’s not. And anyone who thinks there might be a chance in hell of getting off it should look into getting the addiction help services that might allow them to live drug free. Obviously, this does not apply to those of you who’ve already gone to 17 addiction help facilities to no avail, unless you really want to give it another shot, or to those of you who are coping with severe chronic pain.

Kay Sanford of the North Carolina Depatment of Health said “methadone may be the most underrated problem in drug abuse in the country today.” And the need for addiction help services for methadone abuse is more prevalent then ever.

OxyContin is so dangerous that many doctors have started prescribing methadone as an alternative painkiller. But kids are getting it from their parents’ medicine cabinets, and its finding it’s way to the street.

Methadone used to be given to heroin addicts who couldn’t stop using heroin. Now it’s being given to people who can’t stop OxyContin. It’s unfortunate that these people aren’t getting the addiction help they need to get off drugs instead of being given methadone as a substitute.

Like all prescriptions drugs, Methadone is dangerous. If not taken correctly, it can kill you. Caleb Bevil from Raleigh, North Carolina, died from a methadone overdose last Saturday at only 12 years old. My heart goes out to his family. It’s a real tragedy for both them and the community.

In Cleveland County, North Carolina, Lt. Joel Shores lists methadone, along with Xanax and hydrocodone, as one of the many prescription drugs he’s seeing on the streets.

In New Hampshire, methadone abuse is being described as a “troubling trend”.

Deaths attributed to methadone and other prescription drugs have quadrupled since 2002. If you need addiction help for methadone, or any prescription drug, please find out how to get it.

Laconia, New Hampshire, where eight people died last year from methadone, is playing hardball. The man who sold the methadone to one of the victims has been sentenced to a minimum of 15 years - which could turn into 40. He will be able to get out after 10 years if he gets addiction help through a substance abuse program.

While it’s good to see someone being held responsible for this tragedy, I can’t help but think of the all the hundreds or thousands of people dying from OxyContin overdoses while the Purdue execs are snug in their beds. How come they aren’t also in prison? They not only sold the OxyContin to those people, they even lied about how dangerous the drug is.

The way I see it, this is a travesty of justice.  I’m still hoping they will be further prosecuted or made to do more to fix the problem they created. Helping get people the addiction help services they need would be a good start.

St. Joseph’s Hospital’s recent shocking ER visit by nine girls aged 14 years old or younger after having downed a dangerous painkiller should be a wake up call for parents in St. Joseph, Missouri. Some people might see this as just another 10 (including the boy who gave it to them) kids taking drugs. It might not seem important in the overall scheme things, but this is not just an isolated incident – it’s a trend. More and more kids that age have access to those drugs – and they’re giving them to their friends, and some of those friends are ending up in need of addiction help services, or in the ER, or in the morgue..

The drug the kids took was methadone – very similar to heroin, just as addictive, and just as hard to stop. In fact, one in four people who try heroin end up addicted  That means that, crying in the hospital or not, two of those girls may have liked the drug enough to try it again.

The boy who was passing it out may like the drug, or maybe he was hoping to get one or more of the girls stoned enough to have either a pleasant experience together or possibly something more, like sex.

The girls are young so, hopefully, sex was not his primary goal. Perhaps he thought it would be funny to see these girls stumbling around. Maybe he didn’t know he was passing out methadone. Who knows? There are a lot of unanswered questions about this story.

Nevertheless, six percent of 12 and 13-year-olds have misused drugs. These drugs are far more dangerous than they used to be, and easier to get. If you or someone in your family need addiction help, it’s never too soon to get it.

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.

Some people don’t want addiction help, and some people do. Yesterday I wrote a blog about methadone. I received numerous comments from people who are on methadone for pain, or because they were addicted to heroin and wanted to overcome that addiction, but when drug rehab and other addiction help treatment didn’t work for them, they turned to methadone.

I don’t see that anyone would have a problem with someone in chronic pain using methadone because they just can’t function without it. I certainly don’t.

However, there are a few things I would like to say to those who are using it to overcome heroin addiction, or addiction to other opiates.

• Everyone who commented felt strongly that methadone was not a replacement for heroin. Okay, so why is it called Methadone Replacement Therapy - MRT?  Because that’s exactly what it is. Methadone replaces the heroin. If you search “replacement for heroin” on the Internet, methadone is what you will find. So please tell me what would be a better description.
• One commenter said that methadone is used only for those who have not been successful with drug rehab or other addiction help. That may be the case for those who are on methadone more or less permanently, but it is not the case for people who are taking methadone as a step towards full recovery – i.e. no longer dependent on or addicted to any drug.
• After receiving the comments, I called several people connected to rehab and detox facilities to do an informal survey. What I learned from that survey was that between 40% and 60% of the people who want to get off methadone are also taking benzodiazepines. Xanax is the most commonly prescribed benzo. Whether they get it from a methadone clinic or not doesn’t seem relevant. Nor does the fact that most, not all, methadone deaths happen when methadone is combined with other drugs – or alcohol. Perhaps those people who are taking methadone think they’re not going to be taking any other drugs so there is no risk. Well, many of them may not take other street drugs but there’s obviously a good chance – about a 50% chance, according to my little survey -  that they have been, or will be, prescribed another drug by their doctor. What happens to the risk factor then?
• I have worked with many former heroin addicts. In fact, I employ and work with several currently. All of them have been completely drug free for over five years. I also have two kids who received addiction help and are now drug free. I have a son-in-law who was a heroin addict and is now drug free - he kicked cold turkey. And I have a friend who edits for me – she was a heroin addict and also kicked cold turkey, with no addiction help, two decades ago. It can and has been done by thousands of people. It is not an incurable disease.
• One commenter mentioned that methadone was not harder to get off of than heroin and said it just takes longer. I would say that if someone is experiencing pain and discomfort for a longer period of time that you could describe that as ‘harder’. The longer the withdrawal process, the less likely you will have success. Most people cannot withdraw by themselves; in fact I have seen failure rates in the 90% range - which is why some people do better when they also have medically assisted drug detox. You use some drugs for a brief period of time, but then you’re off them altogether.
• I have yet to see any scientific proof that former heroin addicts cannot produce enough endorphins and therefore need methadone. I have also not heard of anyone getting their endorphin levels tested prior to being put on methadone replacement therapy. So, where is the proof that endorphin deficiency is the source of the problem? Where is the proof that the right addiction help couldn’t work? If you have real data on this, I would appreciate receiving it.

I was never addicted to heroin so I cannot feel what you feel. But the fact is, with enough persistence, people can get off heroin and not need methadone. People can live drug free and none of you should have a problem with that. You may have chosen the methadone path, but addiction help is possible - which is why I do what I do.

If you don’t want addiction help, if you would prefer to stay on methadone, then you certainly don’t need anyone’s permission to do so. But if you think it would be a good idea to live drug free, by all means look for other alternatives. I don’t know how many thousands of people have been successful finding the addiction help they need to overcome heroin without having to replace it – yes, that’s what it is – with methadone, but I do know that, for most, it is possible. Call me if you would like to look into it. 877-554-7308. That’s Addiction Help Services.

When you are addicted to something like OxyContin the easiest path to take if you want to get off it is to switch to methadone or some other replacement drug. The hardest path is to get the addiction help you need to be drug free. You can, of course, go to a rehab facility where they’ll give you methadone for heroin or OxyContin and, more than likely, you’ll also get Xanax or Valium along with it. But is it really better than getting addiction help?

Taking these drugs is a relief to the drug companies that make them - they profit every time you go to the methadone clinic and every time you take a Xanax. Drug companies spend a lot of money trying to convince people that life is better on drugs.

But before you make a decision like that, there are few things you should know:

First, Xanax is one of the most addictive drugs around, and also extremely hard to stop.

Second, once you start on methadone it is very hard to stop - much worse than the heroin withdrawal you may have gone through or are so reluctant to go through.

In fact, even using methadone as a painkiller, which is becoming very common, is dangerous. Nancy Garvin of Mothers Against Medical.Org points out that methadone is the number one killer of all the prescription narcotics in the U.S. Thousands of people die from it every year – and you don’t have to abuse it for it to kill you.

Get the addiction help services you need – it may be harder than settling for a replacement drug but it doesn’t fill anyone’s pockets, and it definitely won’t kill you.

When it gets to the point where a county medical examiner says he would never let someone in his family take a specific prescription drug unless they were a heroin addict. you know you’re dealing with a dangerous drug. And that’s exactly what Hillsborough County, Florida, Medical Examiner, Vernard Adams, said about methadone. As methadone is involved in an increasing and alarming number of deaths, anyone taking methadone would be wise to get immediate drug addiction help to get off the drug.

Florida is pretty much known as the prescription drug capitol of the U.S., and methadone is a big part of the problem. What’s even more alarming is that many of the methadone-related deaths occur when the drug is taken exactly as directed.

Doctors are prescribing methadone for pain more than ever due to the addictive properties of OxyContin and it’s potential for abuse. Prior to this change, most of the people using methadone were heroin addicts taking methadone as a legal, but still highly addictive, substitute for heroin.

Now that methadone is becoming more a part of the mainstream instead of being associated with the illegal drug culture, it’s getting more attention and becoming known as the extremely dangerous drug that it is.

If you or someone you know is taking methadone for any reason, help them get the methadone addiction help services they need. You could save their life. 

Not too many people paid an awful lot of attention to methadone when it was used primarily as a substitute drug for heroin addicts. But now that it’s used as a painkiller and the death toll is rising, it’s in the news. Perhaps the increase in methadone-related deaths will prompt the right people to realize what an abomination methadone ‘treatment’ really is and heroin addicts may start to get the addiction help they need instead of being put onto another addictive, dangerous drug.

What took them so long? I suspect that junkies dying didn’t come as a surprise to anyone, and wasn’t particularly newsworthy. You don’t see too many stories about how many junkies are dying from methadone, although the number of methadone-related deaths have been about double those related to heroin. And many more people take heroin than methadone.

Thinking of getting into a methadone maintenance program? If someone is telling you that’s the way to go, forget it. Contact a medical drug detox program that can get you through withdrawal and into drug rehab. And if you’re already on methadone, do the same. You don’t have to settle for replacing one drug addiction for another. Get the addiction help services you need.