Methadone treatment has been in existence in the United States since the 1960's, and it became fairly well-established in the 1970's particularly in the larger metropolitan cities where heroin addiction was more pervasive. In the 1980's, methadone clinics continued to emerge across the country since they successfully helped opioid addicted individuals experience dramatic improvement in their lives.

During the 1990's, this expansion continued and the efficacy of methadone treatment became further substantiated through research. Eventually, full endorsement occurred by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). In November of 1997, the NIH converged to make a formal, consensus statement for this purpose:

To provide health care providers, patients, and the general public with a reasonable assessment of the effective approaches for treating opiate dependence.

A 12 member panel, assisted by 25 experts, had coordinated a study. Various professional fields were represented including psychology, psychiatry, family ...

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Many opioid addicted people have discovered that trying to detox off of opioids "at home" does not work and leaves them feeling miserable. There are some individuals that have "kicked the habit" without medication-assistance or a medically supervised detoxification. However, these success stories are somewhat rare, and usually pertain to people with a comparatively milder opioid addiction or an addiction of relatively shorter duration.

Somewhat compounding the challenge of addiction recovery are outspoken critics who wrongly assume that every drug addiction is the same, and that an addict should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and tough it out. Individuals who hold such views are typically uneducated on the physiological characteristics of opioid addiction and the underlying brain neurochemistry that has been radically altered once opioid addiction sets in.

I have spoken to many suffering opioid addicts who have attempted home-based detoxes. The story is almost always the same ...

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Florida currently hosts opioid treatment clinics in about 30 of its largest and most popular cities. The state is ranked 4th nationally in population with an estimated 18.6 million people residing in The Sunshine State. As is typically the case, the number of suboxone-approved physicians considerably outnumber actual "clinics" that dispense methadone or suboxone. The Miami area, for example, has about 60 such suboxone-approved doctors treating opioid addicted persons.

Florida is one of the most visited states in America as a vacation destination, and attracts millions of visitors annually from all around the world. For opioid treatment clients traveling to Florida, guest dosing is a common occurrence and relatively easy to set-up. This is usually accomplished by speaking to one's primary counselor (or possibly the dispensing nurse) at one's home clinic.

The staff at the home clinic must fax a request for guest dosing to the travel ...

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I was speaking with someone the other day about methadone and they asked me if methadone was the same thing as "meth". They had heard about "meth labs" on the news and people being arrested for manufacturing "meth" in their homes to sell illegally on the street. This individual was wondering if "meth" and methadone were the same thing. They are not!

"Meth" is a slang term often used in print and TV media to refer to the illegal drug crystal methamphetamine. Crystal meth is a highly addictive stimulant drug that can lead to devastating effects for its users (paranoia, hallucinations, heart attack, stroke, and death). Addiction often develops rapidly, and users are left with severe depression and fatigue as they crash following use of the drug. Crystal methamphetamine wreaks havoc on the brain's neurotransmitters, and it is estimated that around 20% of those who abuse it develop psychotic ...

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The two primary components of opioid addiction treatment are opioid replacement therapy (methadone or suboxone) and behavioral health counseling. Each of these therapeutic interventions address very different aspects of one's addiction. And one intervention, without the other, is generally not sufficient to promote lasting recovery from opioid addiction. Both must work in unison to produce meaningful, lasting change.

When entering treatment, most clients are initially very focused on their physiological dependency to opioids and the associated withdrawal symptoms that emerge when their drug supply runs out. Recurrent opioid withdrawal takes priority over most all other considerations. Consequently, addicted people place much emphasis on their methadone dose due to its ability to provide relief from painful opioid withdrawal. There is such a clear connection between methadone dosing and symptom relief that clients often assume that dosing alone is the complete answer to their addiction problem.

However, this is a false ...

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The Kitsap Sun, a newspaper based out of Bremerton Washington, has published an article on the advantages of methadone replacement therapy in dealing with Washington State's opioid addiction problem. The article reporter is Josh Farley, and he did a nice job of presenting the facts around methadone's benefits.

Josh interviewed Ron Jackson, the Executive Director of Evergreen Treatment Services, an opioid treatment clinic in Seattle, Washington. In the article (and embedded video), Mr. Jackson describes how methadone treatment incorporates counseling, and is not just medication-assistance alone. The general tone of the article was fair and fact-based, and it recognized the various ways in which methadone treatment participation helps to stabilize addicted individuals' lives. Articles of this nature are a welcome relief from the fear mongering that some media outlets resort to when referencing methadone.

For the Kitsap Sun report, several methadone clients came forward to share details of ...

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I just read a news article about a proposed methadone clinic that is being met with community resistance, this time in Dade County, Georgia. The county is located in the northwestern tip of the state, and would provide treatment to people living in north Georgia, southern Tennessee, and northeastern Alabama.

Somewhat disturbing were several comments by readers of the article in which the proposed clinic was forecasted to be harmful to the community. One person wrote that clinics "do not help people", and another writer stated that the clinic "would bring more unsavory characters into the county."

A second article on the Dade County clinic, with an accompanying news video, showed an interview with a local store manager in a neighboring county. This store manager is located across the street from an existing methadone clinic. In the interview, the man said "Keep you eyes open and your ears open and ...

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Texas is America's second largest state by size and second in total population figures with just over 25 million people. Adding to Texas' impressive statistics is the fact that Texas has five of the country's top 20 largest cities: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth.

The U.S. database of opioid treatment clinics currently lists 81 separate methadone clinics in operation throughout Texas. Many of these methadone program clinics also offer suboxone. This number does not include the individual suboxone-approved physicians in private practice. That number is many times larger. For example, there are 132 suboxone doctors in Houston alone. These numbers offer some indication of the magnitude of America's opioid abuse problem as well as the ever increasing availability of treatment professionals ready to help.

The diversity of opioid treatment programs is somewhat revealing too with many being private clinics, and others being state-funded ...

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Dr. Jana Burson, in her opioid treatment blog, has written two important and interesting entries on the value of prescription monitoring programs (entry 1, entry 2). Prescription monitoring allows approved physicians to review a database listing controlled substances a patient receives (like opioids or benzodiazepines), the prescribing physician, and the pharmacy that filled the prescription.

This information is extremely useful for monitoring patient behavior in opioid treatment and helping to provide a measure of patient accountability. Some patients have a pattern of doctor shopping and abusing prescription medications even after entering opioid treatment. This monitoring program allows doctors to identify doctor shopping activities and to intervene with their patients who may be abusing prescription meds or selling them.

Dr. Burson writes that 42 states have approved a prescription monitoring program, and a majority of them already have the program up and running in their state. One notable exception is the ...

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The total number of U.S. private and publicly funded methadone clinics has risen substantially just in the last few years. Moreover, opioid addiction treatment is receiving increased attention across the country as organizations like SAMHSA, NIDA, ASAM, and CARF become familiar acronyms to everyone working in the addiction treatment field.

We now have various suboxone formulations with increased availability, in addition to methadone, and new products aimed at treating opioid addiction are being researched and periodically released (such as Vivitrol). A generic version of suboxone is said to be on the horizon too thus becoming a more accessible & affordable option for many. The message is out that opioid addiction is a disease which can be successfully treated & managed using a combination of medication and behavioral health counseling approaches.

Methadone programs received a quality boost in 1999 when the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services identified methadone as ...

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Methadone.US launched in the first quarter of 2011 and has experienced substantial growth over the last 6 weeks. The website, just since February 1, has been visited by internet users in 1205 different cities who were searching for methadone clinics and opioid treatment services in their general vicinity. The extensive reach of the site has been truly remarkable.

The vast majority of Methadone.US visitors are from the United States. This is a natural result of the site's .US (United States) web address, location & focus. Of the 1205 different locales, ten American cities emerged as especially noteworthy by producing the greatest number of visitors to the Methadone.US website. These top ten cities are listed below, in order:

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Philadelphia
5. Denver
6. Dallas
7. Seattle
8. Houston
9. Atlanta
10. Albuquerque

With the site having been visited by individuals in hundreds of American cities, it is a safe ...

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Every client who enters a methadone treatment program has a unique set of family circumstances. He or she may be disconnected from their family, or alternatively, living at home with numerous extended family members all around. Whatever the situation, a methadone client must determine who should be informed about their decision to choose opioid replacement therapy.

The range of family responses can be surprising in regard to starting methadone treatment. Some family are relieved & hopeful that their loved one is finally getting help. Other members may not be well-informed about methadone and quickly adopt a critical opinion. Still others approach the decision from a strictly financial point-of-view, and assess the treatment decision based on its cost.

For methadone clients, it may become important for your family to gain an education on opioid replacement therapy, and to understand its benefits & risks. Families often experience considerable stress around addiction issues, and this ...

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Entering treatment is all about change, positive change. People who make the decision to utilize methadone assistance have a desire to not only stabilize & avoid feeling sick, but to rebuild their lives.

Drug treatment in general is about opportunity. Diabetics could struggle along without insulin. But why should they? Those at risk of congestive heart disease could ignore the benefits of cholesterol-reducing statin drugs like Lipitor or Crestor. But why should they?

When a medication has been thoroughly researched and proven to enhance & save lives, that's a plus! Methadone provides opportunity for health and a life rebuilding process. In other words, a new start. It is vitally important for drug treatment professionals to understand that one size does not fit all. There are many paths to recovery and a true variety of approaches which addicted people can take advantage of in their effort to deal positively with their addiction ...

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I had the pleasant good fortune of seeing a former client the other day who had entered methadone treatment for his opiate addiction about 7 years ago. I remember him struggling for the first 2 years with relapses (mostly to cocaine, not opiates) and our clinic offering a variety of different treatments to help him get on track.

Due to a string of drug tests always positive for illicit substances, we were critically close to detoxing him from our methadone program. As you might imagine, he was a daily prisoner in his addiction and the pieces of the recovery puzzle were just not connecting yet in a way that worked for him.

As a last chance run in formal treatment, he attended a Day Treatment program that we offered which provided group and individual counseling, psycho-educational classes, and activity therapy Monday through Friday from 8:00 am - 3:30 pm ...

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Portland is a large pacific northwest city in the state of Oregon with a metro population of about 2.2 million people. To its credit, Portland offers a considerable number of opioid treatment programs that specialize in the use of methadone and suboxone replacement therapy. Consequently, those struggling with opioid addiction have numerous medication-assisted treatment alternatives in the greater Portland area.

Portland became part of the grunge music scene that rose to prominence in the 1990's. During that time, heroin experienced somewhat of a resurgence with a resulting increase in opiate use and opiate addiction.

In addition to the numerous Portland methadone clinics that opened, many suboxone certified physicians came along when suboxone received its approval from the FDA in 2002. There are 45 suboxone physicians currently in practice at last count.

Within a 10 mile radius of Portland are several more methadone clinics located in the nearby towns ...

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