Insidious Betrayal

Replacing One Drug With Another in the Name of Help

One strong movement across the globe today in the fight against substance abuse is called harm reduction, simply trying to minimize damages.  In theory this may sound okay and have some notable qualities, but it only reaches toward part of the goal of full rehabilitation, which is the ultimate reduction in harm for a drug using population.  It is also a defeatist attitude, assuming that the addiction can't simply be stopped.

A major component of the harm reduction ideology is methadone maintenance for opiate users, namely heroin.  Methadone is a synthetic opiate originally developed by a pharmaceutical giant that has also been used for chronic pain patients.  It has a much longer half-life and is typically administered through outpatient clinics.

According to the latest available data from INDRO, an advocacy group for harm reduction out of Germany (where methadone was first synthesized), there were nearly 200,000 methadone patients in the United States, which was well above any other country mentioned.

Despite the outward appearance of the maintenance and harm reduction theory and practice, there are many arguments against its effectiveness.  The drug-dispensing clinics often fall into a different category when it comes to substance abuse treatment and depending on the state may have very limited regulations to follow.  It is common practice for methadone clinics to simply pass out daily doses in liquid form and offer little or no actual treatment or counseling.

A collaboration of organizations make up the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies (DATOS), which issued a report on a multi-city study of status of patients before and after various types of treatment, including outpatient methadone treatment.  Results of this study that was done in the 90's show that there was actually a slight increase in heavy alcohol use and only a minimal decrease in the percentage of patients not being employed full-time and suicidal ideation. 

Perhaps the most obviously overlooked flaw in this type of treatment, as stated earlier, is that the patients are STILL ON DRUGS.  This is clearly not a permanent solution, and could only be considered a temporary one at best.  While patients are supposed to gradually step down off the drug through reduced dosages over time, most actually end up with increased doses due to tolerance.

What's worse is that methadone is much more difficult to withdraw from than heroin with regards to withdrawal symptoms, and most patients wishing to do so must first be medically stepped down before they are able to complete a full withdrawal and detoxification.

Thankfully there are effective program options available to opiate users, including completely drug-free detoxification and rehabilitation at facilities such as Narconon Arrowhead.  This Narconon® Drug Rehabilitation and Education Program is one of the largest and most successful facilities in the nation, utilizing the drug-free social methodology developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

If you have a loved one in need of rehabilitation in the fullest meaning of the word to become free from drug addiction, contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933 or log on to www.stopaddiction.com. 

To find out more information about methadone and other opiate addiction visit www.heroinaddiction.com.

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