A new methadone clinic in North Haven, Connecticut recently opened called APT. Lynn Madden, who is the acting CEO of APT Foundation, has made a concerted effort to connect with the local community in order to help citizens understand that the methadone clinic can be operated safely and discreetly with no adverse effects to the surrounding neighborhood.

The clinic currently has about 800 patients. An article by the New Haven Register documents the comments of local residents and businesses who all report that the clinic has been good for local business and has resulted in no problems or increase in crime.

The article goes on to explain how the clinic is actually situated in close proximity to a large community development, but positioned such that neither is really aware of the other. This demonstrates how some clinics are expertly planned and managed. At Methadone.US, we wrote two years ago ...

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Recovery is for everyone and anyone with a genuine desire for change. Treatment in a methadone program offers the potential for change, and a new path which can lead to a much improved life.

In the field of addiction recovery, there are a multitude of methadone treatment programs all across the country. These programs vary considerably one to another, and this is a result of treatment philosophy, staff experience & qualifications, funding availability, and the underlying structure and operation of the methadone clinic itself.

Some methadone treatment programs are for profit and some are non-profit. Both can deliver high standards of client care and ethical treatment of their clients. "Good" treatment programs are generally identified as being so by their own clients. Conversely, if a particular methadone program is "not so good", their clients will recognize it immediately and the word will get out very quickly.

What makes a "good" methadone ...

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If you are currently a client in a methadone clinic, then you have most likely heard treatment staff emphasize the importance of safety with methadone and the necessity of carefully securing take home methadone doses. Methadone is a powerful medication that is tremendously helpful to recovering individuals. It is also potentially lethal in the wrong hands and consequently must be deliberately safeguarded.

There is a recently published article on Bloomberg regarding methadone being diverted and then taken by someone who later died from an overdose. This turn of events has led to newly proposed legislation in five states (Maine, Indiana, Minnesota, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania) that would further tighten regulations regarding the operation of methadone clinics and their award of methadone take home medication to their clients.

The reported misuse of methadone, and associated deaths, was allegedly tied to several private, for-profit clinics that operate in these states. One of ...

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Clients across the country in methadone clinics and suboxone treatment programs are required to receive counseling while taking methadone or suboxone medication. Opioid replacement therapy specifically treats the painful opiate withdrawal, but counseling addresses the thinking, behaviors, and lifestyle that fed the addiction or that made individuals more vulnerable to developing addiction-related problems.

While in early recovery from opioid addiction, individuals begin to look at themselves and their lives through the process of counseling. It is during this time that clients face the truth about themselves and the effects that their addiction may have had on family and friends, finances, personal reputation, employment, and a host of other real world considerations.

It is easy to understand how some people can feel overwhelmed as they take their first sober look at the consequences of their recent addiction-based lives. However, change does occur ... and change is a choice. A very personal and ...

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There is growing interest from a number of entities in regard to America's opioid addiction problem, methadone treatment, suboxone treatment, and the always important funding considerations that accompany these subjects.

This interest is coming from hospitals & the larger medical establishment across the country, your local community, the Federal government's Medicaid services division, your State's Division of Health and Human Services who allocate state dollars for opioid treatment, private insurance companies, employers, and the list goes on and on.

The nationwide costs and consequences of addiction are enormous. The cost of treating addiction is also very large. However, research has proven repeatedly that addiction treatment produces undeniable cost benefits. In other words, treating addiction saves money in the long run by helping addicted individuals arrest their disease and become functional again. For many of the entities listed above, it's all about the dollars. And more specifically, saving ...

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Clients tell me that their loved one does not understand why stopping opiate use is so hard. Most non-users think that it is simply a matter of "willpower". While determination is very important in overcoming active addiction, "willpower" alone is usually not enough to overcome one's physical opioid dependence once it has taken hold.

There is a page here on Methadone.US that is dedicated to explaining opioid addiction and the overwhelming compulsion that addicted people feel to keep using these drugs. If you are suffering with an opioid addiction, I recommend that you have your family or friends read this page. It helps to explain (using easily relatable examples) how and why addicted people have such a hard time avoiding opioid use when their withdrawal symptoms and cravings begin to build.

Opioid addicted people are no more able to "just not use" than most people are able to ...

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