Methadone Madness

The AP recently reported the acceptance of nearly a dozen methadone clinics in Appalachia. 

In towns such as Paintsville, KY, where the rampant spread of Oxycontin® addiction has left communities in disarray, a lack of workable solutions has lead to drug substitution instead of solving the problem at hand.  The façade of methadone maintenance programs through for-profit clinics brings about a hope that individuals addicted to the prescription opiate can function on once-a-day doses of a synthetic opiate, but it doesn't handle the physical addiction.

Given the history of opiate addiction, spanning back more than a century, a clear cycle of ineffective patch treatments using another similar drug is showing itself again in as an old practice in a new game.  Morphine was used to treat opium addiction.  Heroin was used to treat morphine addiction.  Methadone was, and still is, used to treat heroin addiction and now is being applied to forms of oxycodone addiction. 

According to J.J., a 28 year-old former heroin addict, "I was on methadone for 5 years and it was much harder to get off than the heroin.  You can't skip a day going to the [methadone] clinic or you immediately get really sick.  It's a trap either way." 

In the case with Oxycontin®, it is actually listed in the same classification as methadone according to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency as a Schedule II Narcotic.  Referencing the Pharmacists Manual, "Substances in Schedule II have a high abuse potential with severe psychological or physical dependence liability," showing that it in fact is not a solution to the problem.  The madness of it all is the seemingly never-ending question:  Will this vicious cycle ever end?

The truth is that a drug-free alternative is not only available, but successfully helping opiate addicts fully recover from their addiction.  The Narconon® Drug Rehabilitation and Education Program is based on the secular research and discoveries of L. Ron Hubbard pertaining to drug addiction and consists of a uniquely effective withdrawal phase, confront and communication exercises, a dry heat sauna detoxification program and a series of life skills courses to not only fully rehabilitate individuals but also to prepare them for life after drugs.

To get help for a loved one caught in the downward spiral of addiction or for more information about the Narconon Program, call Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933 or log on to www.stopaddiction.com.

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