Hello,
Being a reformed user of drugs I used to come across the argument of Heroin vs Methadone as a treatment regularly.
Methadone is a gradually controlled method of weaning addicts off of Heroin. It stays in the system for longer and is more potent than Heroin. Therefore, by slowly reducing the dosage. the less the physical and mental withdrawal, combined with good counseling and support the addict can hopefully reintegrate back into society. In theory Methadone reduction is an excellent method but in reality it seems to fail in the majority of cases. Methadone worked for me: I was prepared to fight my addiction and summoned up the will to take it on with the help of that green elixir METHADONE. I had a supportive family in which I gained strength, great counselors, and a very good Doctor. With all these combinations and time, I healed. The Methadone was used and controlled correctly and it worked.
But for many it's not the case. Friends I had never had the family structure or support. They came from broken homes and lived in deprived areas. In their hearts they wanted to be free from the awful addiction of Heroin. All of them went on Methadone programs. Most had the same Doctor as myself and saw the same counselors. Most of them are now dead.
The preference for Heroin rather than Methadone was total among the many users. They would use their Methadone supply as an inbetweener to keep the withdrawal at bay. They would still seek out the Heroin. For them it would only be Heroin. Everything else was just second rate and not the real thing. I asked my Doctor once, "Why does the government prescribe Methadone and not pure Diamorphine?" His answer was clear and simple. "It's cheaper". I don't think that is the whole truth but I would agree that it's probably some of it. My addicted friends died of needle related disease or neglect. I think they died needlessly. Methadone worked for me but not for them. For them a Heroin programme may have been better but instead they were criminalised and resorted to criminal behaviour to obtain their fixes from the real criminals - the dealers to whom money is the be all and end all.
Surely it would be cheaper for society to have Heroin addicts controlled and monitored with prescribed Heroin... cheaper for the world and the misery that the illegal trade produces. I believe that if Methadone can be used then so can Heroin and even if an addict never kicks the habit at least he could live a normal life and work and function normally to a point. Surely it would be a better life rather than being on the fringes of society living in a subculture of depravity.
There are two books I have read in my time that really struck a chord: Ben Elton's High Society (fiction) and The Pursuit of Oblivion by Richard Davenport-Hines (Factual). I believe there is too much corruption in the world and that is the real sickness that will kill us all eventually.
freedom
Peace, Love and Happiness to the world. Jeff
Being a reformed user of drugs I used to come across the argument of Heroin vs Methadone as a treatment regularly.
Methadone is a gradually controlled method of weaning addicts off of Heroin. It stays in the system for longer and is more potent than Heroin. Therefore, by slowly reducing the dosage. the less the physical and mental withdrawal, combined with good counseling and support the addict can hopefully reintegrate back into society. In theory Methadone reduction is an excellent method but in reality it seems to fail in the majority of cases. Methadone worked for me: I was prepared to fight my addiction and summoned up the will to take it on with the help of that green elixir METHADONE. I had a supportive family in which I gained strength, great counselors, and a very good Doctor. With all these combinations and time, I healed. The Methadone was used and controlled correctly and it worked.
But for many it's not the case. Friends I had never had the family structure or support. They came from broken homes and lived in deprived areas. In their hearts they wanted to be free from the awful addiction of Heroin. All of them went on Methadone programs. Most had the same Doctor as myself and saw the same counselors. Most of them are now dead.
The preference for Heroin rather than Methadone was total among the many users. They would use their Methadone supply as an inbetweener to keep the withdrawal at bay. They would still seek out the Heroin. For them it would only be Heroin. Everything else was just second rate and not the real thing. I asked my Doctor once, "Why does the government prescribe Methadone and not pure Diamorphine?" His answer was clear and simple. "It's cheaper". I don't think that is the whole truth but I would agree that it's probably some of it. My addicted friends died of needle related disease or neglect. I think they died needlessly. Methadone worked for me but not for them. For them a Heroin programme may have been better but instead they were criminalised and resorted to criminal behaviour to obtain their fixes from the real criminals - the dealers to whom money is the be all and end all.
Surely it would be cheaper for society to have Heroin addicts controlled and monitored with prescribed Heroin... cheaper for the world and the misery that the illegal trade produces. I believe that if Methadone can be used then so can Heroin and even if an addict never kicks the habit at least he could live a normal life and work and function normally to a point. Surely it would be a better life rather than being on the fringes of society living in a subculture of depravity.
There are two books I have read in my time that really struck a chord: Ben Elton's High Society (fiction) and The Pursuit of Oblivion by Richard Davenport-Hines (Factual). I believe there is too much corruption in the world and that is the real sickness that will kill us all eventually.
freedom
Peace, Love and Happiness to the world. Jeff