WTC PROVIDES HOPE TO MANY WHO FEEL POWERLESS AND HOPELESS!
It is estimated that at least 980,000 people in the United States are currently addicted to heroin and other opiates (such as OxycontinTM, DilaudidTM, and PercocetTM). They risk premature death and often suffer from HIV, hepatitis B or C, sexually transmitted disease (STDs), other liver diseases such as cirrhosis from intravenous drug use/alcohol abuse, and other physical and mental health problems. It is estimated that 5,000-10,000 Intravenous Drug Users die of drug overdoses every year. Many are involved or have at some point come into contact with the criminal justice system.
A 1997 National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) report estimated the financial costs of untreated opiate addiction at $20 billion USD/Year. These costs, combined with the social costs of destroyed families, destabilized communities, increased crime, increased disease transmission, and increased health care costs, mean that opiate addiction is a major problem for affected individuals, their family and friends as well as society. Furthermore, in 2008, for the first time ever, Vicodintm surpassed Marijuana as the first drug used by 8th graders in the United States.
Despite decades of research to the contrary, ignorance, prejudice and stigma continue to prevent widespread acceptance of replacement therapy. According to the Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, M.D., “[Agonist replacement therapy] Methadone maintenance is the most effective treatment [currently available] for opiate addiction." Unfortunately, misinformation pertaining to methadone and more recently to buprenorphine (SubutexTM and SuboxoneTM) remain widespread even among health care professionals (such as Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Nurses) as many receive limited (if ANY) training in the field of Addiction Medicine.
WHAT IS METHADONE?
Methadone is a long-acting opioid medication that is used as a pain reliever and, together with counseling and other psychosocial services, is used to treat individuals addicted to illicit opioids and certain licit prescription opioid drugs. Methadone administered via Federally Mandated Treatment Providers is termed Methadone Maintenance Therapy and helps normalize your body’s neurological and hormonal functions that have been impaired by the misuse of licit or illicit short acting opioids such as heroin and any other short-acting opioid. Opioids are a group of drugs that act primarily by binding to specific receptors (called opioid receptors) within the central nervous system; the mu opioid receptor is the opioid receptor thought to be primarily responsible for the pleasurable effects associated with this class of drug. They include naturally occurring opioids such as codeine and morphine that are harvested via the opium poppy, heroin which is a modified form of morphine as well as semi-synthetic opioid drugs such as oxycodone (Percocet, Oxycontin), hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco) and purely synthetic opioids such as meperidine (Demerol), fentanyl (Duragesic) and methadone (Dolophine). Appropriate Methadone Maintenance Therapy provides several benefits:
- Reduces or eliminates craving for other short acting opioid drugs
- Prevents the onset of withdrawal for at least 24 hours (or more)
- Produces Narcotic Blockade which essentially blocks the effects of other opioids
- Promotes increased physical and emotional health
- Raises the overall quality of life of the patient
Unlike other short acting opioids like morphine, heroin and oxycodone that remain in the brain and body for a short time, methadone has effects that last in the body for days. Although methadone does cause dependence it’s believed that methadones’ actions on the NMDA receptor produces the clinical effect of producing minimal tolerance when used in replacement therapy. In addition it has unique properties that alleviate craving and compulsive drug use. In addition MMT tends to normalize many aspects of the hormonal disruptions found in individuals who abuse short acting opioids (Kling et al, 2000: Kreck, 2000; Schluger et al., 2001). For example, unlike shorter acting opioids, it "moderates the exaggerated stress response by reducing cortisol levels throughout the body," which in turn reduces the rate of relapse.