Methadone for the Treatment of Heroin

8/12/2019 Methadone for the Treatment of Heroin

1/18

Methadone Treatment 1

Methadone for the Treatment of Heroin

Jennifer Sweeney

College of Charleston


2/18


Abstract

The treatment of heroin is a controversial topic and people have various views regarding

the ethics of using a drug for treating another drug !n this essay ! will attempt to argue

for the use of methadone in the treatment of heroin dependence Methadone use over a

short period of time may help people trying to recover from opiate abuse because it

ma"es withdrawal tolerable The most appropriate course of action is to have methadone

administered to patients in the smallest efficient dose to ease pain# and then over the

course of a few wee"s time wean them off until they can function without it


3/18

Methadone Treatment $

Methadone for the treatment of heroin addiction

The withdrawal of heroin can be a very painful e%perience for heroin users

&ithdrawal can include craving# cold flashes# anhedonia# flu'li"e symptoms and although

they are typically not life'threatening# they may cause a user trying to get clean severe

distress !n the H() documentary *Methadonia+ one of the addicts in the video brings up

a good point that# *heroin treatment has changed a lot in the past forty years Methadone

has clearly provided more humane treatment than straight,ac"ets and rubber deto%es+ !f

drug abuse is considered a psychological disorder that warrants treatment then drug

addicts deserve to see" help in a way that causes them the least amount of physical and

psychological discomfort !t may be argued that it isn-t humane to throw a first time

offender who has used heroin in ,ail to allow them to suffer from withdrawal !t isn-t a

method conducive to psychological wellbeing and may not prevent relapse in many

cases &ithin the appropriate environment .such as within methadone clinics/ methadone

may provide some relieve to heroin users &ith the combination of other therapies li"e

cognitive'behavior therapy# methadone may be an effective treatment &hether or not

methadone will be an effective therapy has a lot to with the patient-s cessation of other

drugs and ability to wean off the methadone gradually Most methadone related deaths

involve polydrug use# especially ben0odia0epines in combination with methadone

Sometimes patients can end up on multiple prescriptions for ben0odia0epines along with

opiates Heath edger allegedly died from a combination of prescription opiates and

ben0odia0epine depressants .Many celebrities have had similar deaths# perhaps because

they li"ely have very easy access to any and every drug/

!3A has done research on methadone as a treatment for heroin and found that it


4/18


can be a safe# effective therapy Methadone may prevent a user from craving# because the

methadone prevents heroin from producing the same euphoria as it once did.1/ ! do wish

to point out that it is disturbing to me that !3A-s site claims that methadone is

medically safe even when used for over ten years .1/ ! am advocating methadone as a

short-termtreatment of heroin addiction# not as a permanent drug alternative Methadone

dosages should be carefully administered and monitored !t should be a last resort

treatment# used to relieve severe pain that has not been relieved by other pain"illers.2/

Methadone vs. Heroin

Heroin

Heroin is a highly'addictive and illegal street drug that is "nown for being deadly

The drug is derived from morphine and obtained from the opium poppy and is used

because of its pronounced pain'relieving effects Slang terms include brown sugar# blac"

tar and smac" among others and these street names come from the fact that the substance

is a powdery tar'li"e substance .$/ !t is most commonly in,ected intravenously or

smo"ed# though some newer users may use the drug subcutaneously and according to

5rowid .4/# some users may try to wean themselves off by ta"ing oral doses# though this

is not the preferred method when *chasing the dragon+ Heroin has an e%tremely high

potential for abuse partially due to the fact that tolerance develops 6uite rapidly to the

euphoric and numbing effects .though unfortunately barely at all to other negative side

effects# such as gastrointestinal effects li"e constipation/ 7sers will often continue to

search for the same high that they got the first time that they used8 this is what it means


5/18


to *chase the dragon+ Heroin is a central nervous system suppressant that causes a range

of physiological reactions# including noticeably constricted pupils# vomiting# clouded

mental functioning and slow or slurred speech ong term use can cause respiratory

problems# pulmonary complications such as pneumonia and death Some problems

arising from heroin use may be largely due to the fact that street drugs are often *cut+

with various other dangerous substances .$/

Methadone

Methadone is a form of opiate replacement therapy that has a longer duration of

action than heroin and is not considered to produce the euphoric effects that are

commonly associated with heroin use !3A claims that users can e%perience real

emotions on the drug :: Heroin has about the same potency as morphine but the duration

of action for methadone is considerably longer# where heroin lasts an average of three or

four hours# methadone can last twelve to twenty four hours .p24; te%t boo"/ A patient in

a methadone clinic would thus only need to ta"e the drug once or twice over the course of

a day

!n the 7nited States methadone is a schedule two drug# which means that there is

a high potential for abuse but the drug is still considered to have a currently accepted

medical use with severe restrictions .heroin is a schedule one drug# which is not

surprising considering it is "nown for it-s high potential for abuse and the drug is illegal/

3octors should use caution when prescribing doses of methadone and heavily consider

the patients history of abuse !t should be used in the conte%t of a harm'reduction

approach# with the intention of "eeping a user from relapsing to heroin over the course of


6/18

Methadone Treatment ;

the few wee"s or months proceeding *6uitting+ when a user is most vulnerable to drug

and environmental cues that may promote relapse !n the video *Methadonia+ some of the

users too" methadone in ways that are not intended8 many used as a way to circumvent

prosecution because of heroin )ne of the users in the video "ept *nodding off+ in a way

that suggested he was abusing methadone as an alternative to heroin Methadone should

only be administered in a safe# clinical setting and it seems that it is perhaps too easily

available with seemingly little limitation for former heroin users


7/18

Methadone Treatment >

&hen a user is not abusing methadone and is actually trying to get off of drugs#

the treatment can have a very positive impact on several domains in their life &hen a

patient begins to get methadone treatment at a clinic their overall health will improve#

even if they are H!? positive addicts They will li"ely have less interpersonal problems

and won-t have to "eep creating more ugly scars from in,ecting intravenously# which !

can see easing the minds of their loved ones and perhaps even opening up new

employment opportunities Also# a more serious reason for not in,ecting is H!? among

intravenous drug users# which is a big public health concern !f heroin users stop in,ecting

heroin and start ta"ing a methadone pill instead# the rates of H!? might decline Also#

the statistics show that criminal activity is very much decreased once someone admits

themselves for methadone treatment .9/

Conclusion

!t is easier to find information li"e statistics about how many people are passing

away from methadone and how obviously dangerous it is &hat is downplayed is the fact

that these people would have li"ely continued to use heroin and possibly died from that if

methadone were not available Many patients abuse various other drugs or ta"e too much

of their medication


8/18

Methadone Treatment

heroin# over half will become dependent on it .;/ My father-s friend used heroin for only

a few wee"s and overdosed and died &ith heroin addiction# treatment is more urgent

than with most other drugs# because their life is very much at sta"e Heroin users have a

death rate that is roughly fifteen times greater than non'users They are also at an

e%tremely high ris" for suicide# and many heroin related deaths are suicides .;/ !t is

costing our society too much The &isconsin Medical society show statistics that the

yearly cost of heroin addicts# due to their criminal activity# lac" of social productivity

among users and medical care costs# etc was twenty one point nine billiondollars8 and

that is an outdated statistic from 1BB;# but ! only presume that it is far beyond that now

.;/

ew or" has 29D#DDD heroin addicts and only enough capacity in their

methadone programs to hold $$#DDD .9/ Some clinics refuse methadone treatment# and

the statistics show that the relapse rates are even higher among those not being treated

with methadone and the patients are less li"ely to return to treatment The heroin

epidemic is a serious problem and getting users to deto% on methadone is a start There

are many addicts who aren-t getting the help that they need


9/18

Methadone Treatment B

::E5M)?5 F7)TAT!)S8


10/18


11/18


12/18


(ut try to avoid this &here possible# find the original sources of information that you

cite ! do not want to read a paper that does nothing but cite a te%tboo" repeatedly

Sometimes the source that you are citing is an organi0ation Here is an e%ample of

how to cite it correctly According to the ational Survey on 3rug 7se and Health#

D2#DDD Americans used S3 in 2DD .S37H# 2DD/ 7sing this as an e%ample# you

should now be able to cite things off of !3A-s or !AAA website accurately Also see

the reference section for how to cite these things accurately there

Major Heading

Minor Heading

enerally# try to avoid direct 6uotations That sentence is important enough to

repeat Avoid 6uotations ! want to read your writing# not the writing of somebody else


13/18

Methadone Treatment 1$

you provide a direct 6uote# be sure to include the page number @or e%ample Tardive

dys"inesia can be defined as *an e%trapyramidal complication characteri0ed by

involuntary movements of the mouth and tongue# trun"# and e%tremitiesK a side effect of

long'term .two or more years/ use of antipsychotic drugs+ .Maisto et al# 2D11# p $1>/

ote that ! use *et al+ because ! have already cited this source .and all of the authors/

earlier in the paper

Another case where it might be appropriate to provide a direct 6uotation is for the

psychologicalLliterary punch that it pac"s @or e%ample# if you are arguing for the

legali0ation of mari,uana# you might be interested in what a popular introductory

psychology te%tboo" says about the matter !n their discussion of mari,uana use in an

introductory psychology te%tboo"# Schacter# ilbert# and &egner .2DDB/ stated that *the

greatest danger of mari,uana is that it is illegal+ .p $2;/ otice how in the first 6uotation

! put the entire reference at the end of the 6uotation !n the second# ! put the authors and

year first and the page number following the 6uotation 5ither is acceptable

Sometimes# when you are 6uoting from on'line material# page numbers may not

be available Sometimes authors are not even available Try to give enough information

for the reader to find the 6uote !f titles# headings# or paragraphs are visible# use them

Here is an e%ample of how to handle this situation )ne user of "etamine# identified by

the screen name Jesusgreen# describes his e%perience on the website erowidorg as such

*)nce ! was in the N Hole# everything lost its meaning ! was no longer a person# ,ust an

entity# and everything ! saw was meaningless+ .Journey into the !nfinite# para ;/ otice

here that ! provided the author-s screen name# website# the title of the essay# and the

paragraph number


14/18


@or the purposes of this paper# you should rarely .if ever/ need to directly 6uote

material from another source Eather# summari0e the literature in your own wordsand

then cite the source ! want to read your writing# not what someone else has written

"herefore, I am imposing a limit of two direct uotations for this paper.


15/18


Major Heading

ote that this handout is largely a formatting guide !t says very little about how

to actually organi0e your paper !t is up to you to present your research topic in a logical

se6uence Most of the topics involve whether or not a drug should be legali0ed )ne

way to organi0e the material would be first to provide some bac"ground material on the

drug Then provide a history of the legal history associated with the drug e%t provide

arguments for legali0ation# arguments against legali0ation# and conclude with your

opinion Ma,or headings could be devoted to each of these topics ote that this is only

one possible way to organi0e your paper There are many


16/18

Methadone Treatment 1;

#eferences

The reference section begins on a new page $ote that the header is

%#eferences& and not %'or(s Cited.&There are many online sources for how to format

your references in A


17/18

Methadone Treatment 1>

Jesusgreen .2D1D# @ebruary 4/ Journey into the infinite O)nline forum commentP

Eetrieved from httpLLwwwerowidorgLe%periencesLe%pphp=!3Q>B9>B )$ote*

"his provides an eample of how to properly cite a user eperience from

+rowid, or any online forum comment for that matter.-

Eissen# A 5 .1B;;/ Sensory deprivation !n 5 Stellar I J ! Sprague .5ds/#


18/18


$ote* 'hen citing an entire website, it is sufficient to give the entire website in the

tet. It does not need to reappear in the reference section.

1/ httpLLdrugabusegovLresearchreportsLheroinLheroin9html

2/ httpLLwwwnlmnihgovLmedlineplusLdruginfoLmedsLa;21$4html

$/ httpLLwwwdrugfreeorgLdrug'guideLheroin

4/ 5rowid

9/ httpLLdrcnetorgLmethadoneL

;/httpLLwwwwisconsinmedicalsocietyorgLR&MSLpublicationsLwm,LissuesLwm,Rv1D$n

4L(rownpdf

Documents

Methadone for the Treatment of Heroin