Monthly Archives: May 2014

Methadone and Treatment Are Valuable Resources

action-methadone-assistanceSince the launch of Methadone.US, hundreds of thousands of visitors have searched the site and located important treatment resources to help them deal with a chronic opioid addiction. The city pages on Methadone.US list both methadone clinics and local buprenorphine (suboxone) physicians.

While the federal government maintains a similar database of medication-assistance providers, we focus on making this site convenient and easy-to-use for patients, families, medical professionals, and anyone interested in finding help for addiction problems.

We have some recent clinic additions to Methadone.US in the cities of Salt Lake City, Dallas, and Cincinnati. There are an increasing number of clinics around the country, and in larger metropolitan areas there are often numerous facilities available to serve the much larger population. To highlight local treatment programs, we offer Featured Clinic Listings for those methadone treatment providers who wish to profile their services to a larger number of prospective patients who are visiting their city’s page on Methadone.US.

A very exciting aspect of opiate-specific recovery is the growing recognition among medical professionals nationwide that opioid addiction is an actual illness and that it can be successfully treated with medication-assistance. For too many years, there has been a rush to judgment when it came to opioid addicted people who would present sick and in need of care. Recently, the problem with opiates has become so widespread that those in society who thought they could never be affected by it have come to realize that addition is an equal opportunity disease.

The “story” is in the real recovery of people who begin medication-assisted therapy and who then go on to change their lives, resume work, get ahead financially, reconnect with their family, and live a better, high quality life that is not compromised by constant medication seeking.

Methadone and treatment have value because they change lives and save lives. It’s not a hard concept to grasp and not controversial when evaluated from a factual, objective point of view. More good news is that opioid replacement therapy is not going away. It is an effective, proven intervention that is based on actual science and extensive research, and it has been deemed a best practice by the U.S. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. That is quite an endorsement. Methadone and treatment … valuable resources that make a lasting difference in the lives of many people.

Lifestyle Change and Responsible Behavior

drug-treatment-opiate-addictionPeople facing addictive disease cover a wide variety of maturity levels, individual capabilities, and in their level of desire for sober lives. What I mean is that some are further along in their mindset and are really ready to live drug free. They embrace the challenge, and they recognize that some work lies ahead in order to get their life properly sorted out.

Others are sometimes only motivated by the present crisis. They do the right thing only long enough to avert the crisis, and then they’re back to old behavior and old attitudes like they didn’t miss a beat. They straighten up just long enough to avoid probation revocation. They may stop using and “make nice” with a loved one as long as it takes to get some money or a favor, and then it’s back to addict behavior.

With opiate addiction, people from all walks of life can develop a problem – from the chronic troublemaker to the person who never gave anyone a hard time. Opiate addiction covers the whole spectrum of humanity and knows no boundaries. I have treated doctors, dentists, and lawyers … grandparents … church members … teachers … and teens. This diverse group of people had one thing in common. That’s right. Addiction.

While long term recovery is available to every person, only some get clean & sober. Why is this? The answer has much to do with whether a person has an innate desire to change, whether they are teachable and open, and sometimes whether their conscience is awake. Addiction, and the unique behavioral traits that often surround it, make people resistant to change. They resist doing the things that lead to stability, sobriety, and success. Like a seriously overweight person who keeps overeating or a stage 4 diabetic who won’t leave the doughnuts and cookies alone.

Addicts can cycle in and out of rehabs, in and out of jobs, and in and out of relationships. They become the drama that disrupts family life. The phone call at 3:00 a.m. that wakes the children. The examples are endless and they all lead to the same destination … which is pain, loss, failure. Or, as they say in NA: jails, institutions, or death.

Each addiction is a journey as is each individual recovery. There are bumps in the road and a multitude of wrong turns. But there is learning. Hopefully, humility develops and the willingness to follow a new path that involves the guidance & support of others who know more. Addiction is a cunning illness. Trying to fight addiction alone is not a smart decision. It has been shown repeatedly that those who make it typically seek help. Treatment is help. Treatment provides the needed support, feedback, and essential tools for repairing one’s life. Opiate addiction is a powerful trap. Make no mistake though. People do recover … and go on to exciting and enriched lives. Do not stay stuck. Reach out for help in your local community.

Heroin Addiction In College Life

addiction-in-collegeWithin the last year, Methadone.US wrote about the resurgence of heroin addiction in corporate America and in particular areas of the Northeast United States. However, opioid addiction is not exclusive to the Northeast and is surfacing across the entire country. This emerging epidemic has gained the attention of numerous government personnel as well as local community leaders.

There are thousands of colleges and universities in America. While substance abuse on college campuses is nothing new, the growing heroin problem is. Alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine have been ever-present throughout colleges for decades, but opiates historically have been a second tier drug of abuse … until now.

A recent article on DrugFree.org has highlighted efforts being made at the University of Rochester and the University of Vermont to more actively screen for opioid abuse among the students enrolled there. It is anticipated that the number of college students using heroin will rise in correlation with the general heroin epidemic which has already infiltrated the state of Vermont and other parts of the country. Vermont’s Governor Peter Shumlin is on record as having recognized that the state is experiencing a genuine crisis with heroin addiction and associated overdose deaths.

According to the DrugFree article, Yale University officials have also reached out to students to share the school’s caution and concern that some students may not fully understand the danger and potency of the drugs being secretly distributed on college campuses. University representatives are trying their best to get ahead of the problem before things spiral out of control.

Heroin has become the new “cheaper” substitute for those who have developed a dependency on prescription opiates but who no longer have access to them. Unfortunately, it has become a practice among many colleges to keep drug problems out of the news for fear that it will tarnish the school’s reputation.

This tendency to keep things “quiet” often works against connecting addicted people with the professional help that they may need. Every college should be working hand-in-hand with local addiction treatment organizations and professional addiction counseling centers since most colleges and universities are not sufficiently staffed to deal directly and effectively with complex addiction treatment issues. Credit should be given to those schools that are being proactive in their desire to educate students before tragedy strikes.

Information For Families on Opioid Addiction Treatment