- Signatures: 2,080
- Goal: 10,000
- Deadline: Ongoing...
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Methadone Patients receiving it for addiction treatment, Patients receiving Methadone for acute pain, Providers, Families & Friends Against Hysteria and Further Restrictions
| Number | Date | Name | City | State | Tell us of Your Experience with Methadone for Opiate Addiction Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,100 | 9:16 am PDT, May 9 | Anonymous | Asheville | North Carolina | Several people close to me have quit using illegal substances and started living productive lives through Methadone Maintance Treatment. The clinics do a great job at dispersing medication and stabalizing patients as they (the clinics) stand at this time. All rules and regulations do not need to be futher enhanced to reduced any harm that sometimes occurs through illegal diversion or individual patient negelect to follow current rules and regulations. |
| 2,099 | 7:44 am PDT, May 9 | Anonymous | Hudson | New Hampshire | |
| 2,098 | 6:30 am PDT, May 9 | Mikael Widlöf | Umeå | I've been in treatment with methadone for 2 years now, and I've gone from being a wellfare-needing junkie to becoming a clean living dental student and have had continously clean urine for that time. I could not have done this without methadone. | |
| 2,097 | 5:26 am PDT, May 9 | Jon Camilotto | clarksville | Indiana | |
| 2,096 | 9:00 pm PDT, May 8 | brittney runyon | otisco | Indiana | I am the sister of a current methadone patient and have seen the troubles that she has had to go thru because of this addiction. I would do anything to see the members of this program over come there addictions and continue to better themselves. |
| 2,095 | 7:51 pm PDT, May 8 | Cody Gray | Boise | Idaho | Methadone has improved the quality of my life well beyond what I thought was even possible. It has helped me to feel normal for the first time since childhood. Truely has saved my life. |
| 2,094 | 7:04 pm PDT, May 8 | Anonymous | otisco | Indiana | My son was on it for about eight month's then he got tired of going and getting it, it did help him get off oxy's and whatever. My daughter-in-law still get's it but she want's to try and get off it soon, so she can get pregnant. |
| 2,093 | 1:21 pm PDT, May 8 | Sheri Cronen | Otisco | Indiana | The first positive statement I ever said about methadone was this - "Now when the sun shines on my face I embrace life, I enjoy it, and I am thankful to be alive". Simply put - life is livable and enjoyable in a way that it NEVER could have been had I not joined my local treatment center. I can guarantee you this - I would not be even close to reaching my goals..as I know that I would not be enrolling in nursing school right now if I was still "doping" rather than on a controlled amount of methadone. Thanks to my cooperation with clinic rules and a BIG thanks to my counselor(s), I have been able to reach goals, stay clean, and enjoy waking up rather than waking up with a stifling fear in my gut screaming out "WHERE/WHO AM I GONNA GET MY MORNING FIX FROM?" Now rather I can grab one of my takehomes and start my day - and honestly, I dont even *think* about getting high. My relationship with my family has improved 100%. My marriage was in part possible due to methadone, if I had not decided to get clean, we would never have used money to buy all of the things necessary to pay for one's own wedding. So I thank my local clinic and I am sorry to hear of so many that abuse this "wonder drug" and end up without their lives. My heart goes out to them. In a nutshell, it all comes down to education. |
| 2,091 | 6:22 am PDT, May 8 | Anonymous | Washington | Washington D.C. | Methadone definitely saved my life! Without it, I'd probably be breaking into your house by now or spreading HIV, Hep C, or whatever to your kids. During active addiction, the addict will do ANYTHING required to obtain more drugs, trust me. It's important to understand that this medication not only benefits us addicts and our families/friends, but also society as a whole. Take it away and you're not only hurting me, you're also hurting yourself. I thank God every day for this medication, and so should you! |
| 2,090 | 1:15 am PDT, May 8 | Anonymous | Montezuma | Georgia | I take methadone for chronic pain because i've tried everything else and i do mean everything and for me methadone is what works best for me in my particular situation. |
| 2,089 | 6:40 am PDT, May 7 | Sam Martin | San Francisco | California | |
| 2,088 | 8:38 pm PDT, May 6 | Tammy McGuire | Republic | Missouri | I found Methadone and thats when I found HOPE! I have small chidren to care for. I couldnt just lay in bed sick, sink more money into more street drugs,and Definately not leave my children with strangers to enter a rehab in which is has a low success rate anyway. Methadone saved me! I am doing perfect. I have been taking Methadone treatment for a year now. I am healthy, happy and very NORMAL. I am attending school now. Those who abuse methadone do so to get a high and they acquire it from the streets! Those abusers are still lacking will to be clean & do not care for themselves. Its not the prescribing doctors fault. Please..The clinics are very careful and very serious about our health. They only prescribe what we need. This is a miracle drug! My family is happy and so am I. Im a better person and one less of a Statistic! |
| 2,087 | 7:02 pm PDT, May 5 | Susan Forrest | Salisbury | Maryland | I tried to stay clean for 8 years by going to NA and doing what they suggested, I continued to relapse and was on deaths door everytime I used, I had been brainwashed by my sponsor and NA members that methadone was no different than using dope. I started MMT five years ago and have remained drug free since. I have gotten married, bought a home, and am graduating from college next week. My relationship with my family has been repaired and they finally have some peace of mind. I am a stable, healthy, productive member of society and I owe it all to MMT. I had tried everything else, but it was methadone which gave me the opportunity to recover. |
| 2,086 | 2:09 pm PDT, May 5 | Kenneth Stanley | Cincinnati | Ohio | Methadone saved my life. When properly administered, it is a great tool to fight the disease of addiction |
| 2,085 | 2:04 pm PDT, May 5 | Heather Hall | fredericksburg | Virginia | I have been an opiate addict for 11 years of my life. Without methadone I would still be using illegal drugs. It is because of methadone that I am able to have a "normal" life. |
| 2,084 | 12:10 pm PDT, May 5 | Lisa Skadra | Indianapolis | Indiana | I became addicted to pain meds from my doc who prescribed them for fibromialga. I just could not get off them on my own and got no help fom any of the doctors i saw. I am a single mother of 4 and I would be dead or in jail if it wasnt for methadone. I am the sole support of my children working 2 jobs. I would not have been able to accoplish this without methadone. |
| 2,083 | 3:00 pm PDT, May 3 | Colleen Carpender | Portsmouth | Rhode Island | I am 26 years ol and a recovering addict ,not from opiates but from crack cocaine. However I have a sister who is a herion addict who is on methadone. I have never had a bad opinion about methadone so when my sister decided to try it I was all for it. All I wanted was to have the old Kristin back and meetings and treatment centers just werent enough for her. I really wish people that dont know a thing about methadone and have not been in the shoes of a desperate addict that just wants there life back, should really educate themselves before they talk and pass judgement. |
| 2,082 | 9:48 am PDT, May 3 | samantha moody | hampton | Virginia | I have suffered for years with biliary stenosis and pancreatic problems along with fibromyalgia, I have had 4 ercp's done on my liver/ pancreatic duct's and stents put in, the only medication that has helped me live a some what pain free day is methadone 30mg a day. I was on many other opiates 1999\2001 for this pain, percocet,darvocet, patches, oxycontin, Klonipin and was dependant on these. You can not be after being on these medications for so long. I finally came off all COLD TURKEY! which was a living hell for Months they say from the benzo that I was on. The pain and medical problems got worse with Chronic pancreatitous(spelling?) so they tried me on methadone for the pain for the fibro and the stomach problems, this is the only medication that has helped with both and I have been on then all. I am also on xanax 6mg a day and have had no problems , it has been over a year. While I feel that any drug can be abused and even cause death when mixed wrong or the person is using it for just (getting high) Methadone also has helped so many people live normal lives and funcation, those who use it the right way. I have seen many deaths on the web from all sorts of drugs and methadone from people who were not abusing it and I am truly sorry for there loved ones, That is a chance you take when trying any new drug . I am a mother of two and I can function now some days pain free in 2001 I was riding around Disney land in a wheelchair from pain and being on all the other opiates I was on, we have now been 5 more times and a Cruise and I can walk, function just fine.. This medication has helped me so much with chronic pain, we should not be punshied for those who have abused it or those who have not, but lost there lives..It is a chance you take, and yes I think some people just trust there doctors to much with medication they do not research it before they take it, Out way the benfits, side effects and even death or complactions before taking it. When I am given I new drug by my dr. ,who I love I still research it before taking it, because our drs. are not God. samantha |
| 2,081 | 11:17 am PDT, May 1 | Anonymous | milford | ||
| 2,080 | 12:01 am PDT, May 1 | Lauren L | Tupelo | Mississippi | |
| 2,079 | 7:59 pm PDT, Apr 30 | Kristin Evans | portsmouth | Rhode Island | Methadone has given me my life back!!!! I am a heroin addict who lost EVERYTHING, including my 4 children! I've tried everything to get clean, inpatient, outpatient, meetings, counseling....i just couldn't get it. The only thing I hadn't tried was MMT, so I figured it was worth a shot....it couldn't get any worse! I have 11 months and 3 days clean, and my life has never been so good!! I have my job back as a medical assistant, I have a new apartment, an awesome boyfriend, my 4 children back, and most of all, I have Kristin back!! I am so thankful for methadone...it saved my life and gave my children a shot at life with a clean mother!! |
| 2,078 | 3:53 pm PDT, Apr 30 | matthew adkins | Pikeville | Kentucky | Ive tried long term residential treatment and suboxone treatment which was expensive and unsuccesful then tried methadone maintenance treatment and ive been clean for six months and havent relapsed its been the most comfortable and succesful treatment ive ever had |
| 2,077 | 12:53 pm PDT, Apr 30 | stacey vincek | peekskill | New York | Methadone saved me.I was a sick woman who made a decision to join mmtp and i have been completly sober for 2 and a half yrs from all drugs and alcohol. |
| 2,076 | 8:40 am PDT, Apr 30 | Anonymous | United States | ||
| 2,075 | 3:30 pm PDT, Apr 29 | Anonymous | Rockwell | North Carolina | I am in a methadone for opiate addiction center now. I have a bad back and was given the name of a pain clinic to go to by my family phy. I really felt I was to young to have back surgery. I went for about a year to this clinic. While there I became addicted to Fentanyl(800mcg suckers- 6 per day). My dose was so high that all I did was sleep. My Dr.& I felt like I was becoming addicited to the lozenges. We then decided to start droping my dose, and he gave me Methadone(5mg) to help with any withdrawls. Not only was I sleepy but I felt as if I had lost any part of who I was. I felt like crap all the time. I craved my Fentanyl and would take 6 a day even after he had moved me to 4 He would increase the Meth.(to 10) and decrease the Fentanyl to 3. I couldn't do it. I was that addicted to them at this point that it was no longer just a physical addiction. I had become an addict. This small town girl who had never at 26 even tried a cigarette was always at church was now an addict. It was a hard pill to swallow. I am just now getting to the point where I can accept it. The Methadone is when and where the addiction started. Just by adding that little amount made me want my other drug more. |
| 2,074 | 11:30 am PDT, Apr 28 | erica baker | blacklick | Ohio | i am in an maotp at mary haven..saving my life daily! |
| 2,073 | 7:04 am PDT, Apr 26 | Anonymous | quincy | Massachusetts | I was a herion addict for over 6 years in and out of rehabs nothing worked, I went to rehab the last time and found out I was prenagant they would not treat me so I had to leave, I was feeling so scared and like I had no where to turn, finally I found a program that gave methadone to prenagant mothers they have helped me so much not just with methadome but with people to talk to and they never looked down on me. I have been clean about 5 years and my daughter is the best thing that ever happen to me, I always say she gave me life because If it was not for her I don't think I would of ever got clean and without methadome I would of never had a chance. Today I work a full time job and I am a great mom, I never thought I could have a life like this, I love life and I would Never Be where I am today without methadone, it gives you a chance at a real life, to clear your mind. I have lost so many friends off drugs and I just want everyone to know that methadome works if you work the whole program, i am still on methadome today in a low dose, |
| 2,072 | 3:18 pm PDT, Apr 23 | Angela Berardi | Palm Coast | Florida | Thank God for methadone and the counselors and nurses that work at the methadone clinic that I attend. I am a mother of two a wife and a repected member of the community. I was put on painkillers about six years ago for a physical problem I had at the time and continued to be administered the medication for years during my treatment for that problem. When I lost my insurance and no longer went to the doctor or recieved my medication monthly anymore I learned real fast about drug addiction and what withdrawals were. I couldnt function or get out of bed even. I had things to do and kids to raise. I couldnt lay in bed all day. I was shaking and puking all the time. It was awful. I had never intended for this to happen nor was I warned by anyone not even the doctors. I started buying them from people so I could function. Well I ran out of money real fast doing that and I had to get help. I heard of other people who had recieved help from the methadone clinic so I called and went to my first appointment.I started treatment that day and my life has been normal again ever since. Its like I never had a problem. I work and take care of my kids. As long as you dont abuse the medication or take it incorrectly you will not die of it or have anything bad happen. You are warned of all the side effects when you begin treatment and you are also told not to mix it with anything! I will never regret my decision to take methadone and I will be happy to take it the rest of my life. I would and have recomended it to anyone in the same boat as me. All of this hysteria about methadone is crazy. Yes some people have died, lots of medicines have killed people because of bad interactions with other substances or not being used correctly. Only methadone recieves the scrutiny at this level. I feel that those people that are against this life saving medication are just mad because drug addicts have something they can take to make there lives better that happens to be a drug also so they are considered trash because of it and all of the high and mighty types who have never done anything wrong ever in their whole entire lives (yeah righ!) are standing in judgement of this medicine and those who are helped by it. This medicine and all of the heroes that work at the clinics everyday to help those of us that made a wrong turn in life are saving lives. We are closely monitored on this medicine while we are on it and we can choose to taper off of it anytime we are ready. This treatment works better than any 12 steps any day. In combination with counseling ,methadone will contine to save lives. Not just that of the addict but their whole family as well. My husband and I and the kids are a normal family again. I am in full support of methadone and the people who provide the treatment as well! Thank you! |
| 2,071 | 9:09 am PDT, Apr 23 | Anonymous | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | I abused oxycontin and heroin for over 6 years. It ruined my life. I was physically and mentally dying. I had ruinied all of my relationships and had noone. I had even got in trouble with the law but was able to move past that because it was my first and only offense. I became pregnant and went to a methadone clinic. If I did not have the clinic, I would be dead. My two year olds on would also be dead or being raised by foster parents. i have been on methadone for 3 years. It has completely changed my life, I have not used since I began three years ago. It has allowed me to regain my relationships with family, be a wonderful mother to my son and I am now working and attending college. I agree that methadone may not work for everyone, but the only way it works is if it used correctly. it has to be taken daily and without any other alcohol or drugs. Harder stipulations would make it much harder for me to continue to be a productive american citizen. If I had to go to the clinic seven days a week instead of one, I would not be able to work and go to school the way I do now. If anything, the rules should be steepend for the people who do not take their treatment seriously but for those of us, who work hard everyday even if you have a problem here and there, we need these clinics and we need them to say the way they are. Thanks. |
| 2,070 | 5:01 am PDT, Apr 23 | Andrea Johnson | Greenup | Kentucky | I had been on pills for 6 years and got on methadone 3 months ago. It has been a life saver for me as well as my children. I lost them due to my addiction and have started the process of getting them back. My family life is even better. It kills me that all you ever hear about methadone is the bad and not the good. You always hear about the deaths and the abuse of it but never the good is advertised, such as it saving millions of lives. |
| 2,069 | 10:26 am PDT, Apr 22 | Anonymous | panama city | Florida | I was a heroin addict for years and could not keep a job as a result having been on methadone for 3 years now I have opened my own business and am doing very well thanks to methadone. I no longer lie and steal to get a fix. And no you don't get high on methadone. |
| 2,068 | 8:31 am PDT, Apr 22 | randy lazarus | east chicago | Indiana | |
| 2,067 | 5:04 am PDT, Apr 22 | lisa kenton | dayton | Ohio | |
| 2,066 | 1:44 am PDT, Apr 21 | Anonymous | Sacramento | California | |
| 2,065 | 6:45 am PDT, Apr 20 | Susan Catalano | Lititz | Pennsylvania | I have ben on methadone for 11yrs. It has been the only thing that worked for me to stay off DRUGS!!!I have tried everything else, theraputic communitys, out patient counseling and even staying in the house away from everyone & everything for almost a year, I am a single mom & have been staedly emlpoyed in the same line of work. |
| 2,064 | 7:21 am PDT, Apr 19 | Karianne Newton-Noble | Rochester | New York | |
| 2,063 | 2:25 pm PDT, Apr 18 | William Friedman | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | Since begining Methadone Tx 15 years ago I have been drug-free, returned to college after dropping out in 1968 and completed my B.A. degree graduating in 1997 Magna Cum Laute, recieved a teaching certificate and began as a substitute teacher in 1998, changed my eating and drinking habits and so far have lost over 50 pounds, and most importantly LIVED TO SEE MY TWIN GRANDSONS BORN IN FEBRRUARY 2008...without this Methadone Maintenance Tx none of this would have occured, and that I am sure of. |
| 2,062 | 1:08 pm PDT, Apr 18 | willie stiles | Iuka | Mississippi | an absolute LIFE SAVER..! |
| 2,061 | 5:58 pm PDT, Apr 17 | Belinda Ramos | Brockton | Massachusetts | I've been on MMT since 1999, and all I can say is that this program has saved my life. I first got addicted to heroin in 1988 and since then, until I got on Methadone, my life was one big fishbowl of detoxes, prisons, halfway-way houses and the sreets. What FINALLY convinced me to get on Methadone was the fact that I couldn't even get out of bed without sticking a needle in my arm first, and also I had OD'd twice in the week before my first appointment at the clinic, and on the second OD, they had to Narcan me twice. My luck was really running out! Thank God I got on Methadone! I know I'd be dead by now if I never got on the clinic. But anyway, as of right now, I'm down to 60mgs from a high of 120mgs. I figured out that weaning myself 2mgs every other week is the safest way to get off the clinic. Any faster and a person will just feel withdrawal symptoms and want to use heroin. I've been on MMT for over 10 years now and I've seen patients try to get off the clinic every which way, and what I've learned is the ONLY way to successfully detox is to do it VERY slowly. Any more than 5mgs is way too fast!! And also, to get any kind of benefit from this program (mentally and emotionally), you need to stay on the clinic at least 12 months, so that maybe you can learn some relapse prevention tools!! Otherwise the door to the clinic will turn into a revolving door for you!!! But anyway, like I said, Methadone has saved my life - I'd probably be dead without it. So whenever I hear anyone saying anything bad about it, I have to speak up! If you don't know anything about something, PLEASE keep your negative comments to yourself!! It just makes you look ignorant. I'd like to see any of these holier-than-thou assholes walk a mile in my shoes!! |
| 2,060 | 3:39 pm PDT, Apr 17 | LeeAnn Schwemmer | Salt Lake City | Utah | If I hadn't found methadone when I did, I would probably be dead. It saved my life. I am once again a happy healthy wife and mother. |
| 2,059 | 1:35 am PDT, Apr 17 | Anonymous | Laguna Niguel | California | I have friends and family members- who would be dead, in prison or in another form of institution if it were not for Methadone Treatment. There is so much ignorance being spread about Methadone, it is scary. Any action limiting take homes, eliminating take homes, dose caps, or the closing of clinics would be a crime and a punishment worse than death for many who are dependant on this medicine for their disease. If a measure was initiated to put limitations on something like insulin; people would be outraged!! And the same outrage should be expressed over this topic. If anything - the public should be more educated about the positive effects, the lives this medicine changes, and more. What is needed is for beaurocrats, the general public and Doctors also to lobby for less restrictions and put more flexibility in the hands of Physicians qualified to use this amazing and life saving treatment. I know people that have to not only pay enormous amounts of money for methadone treatment, but they are driving way too far to their nearest clinic and unfortunately are often being treated like second class citizens by some of the very clinics they depend on. These people are our brothers, mothers, children, and more. They don't deserve to be treated poorly because they have an addiction. If methadone was to be taken off the market -- you would have an enormous influx of heroin and other opiates being smuggled, stolen, etc. and you would have people committing suicide!! And no that's not hyperbole -- it's a fact. When you take away someone's ability to function as a human being --like cutting their dose from 100mg to nothing, you essentially turn them into a potential suicide, GUARANTEED. Please wake up people, America shouldn't be so behind on such a progressive and important topic such as this. Ourselves and our loved ones deserve better. |
| 2,058 | 3:51 pm PDT, Apr 15 | michael s. barrier | philadelphia | Mississippi | i personaly have several friends who have been in methodone maintance here in mississippi at the only clinic in jackson all have stopped illegal drug abuse and have been successful with methodone,finally methodone is avaible here in mississippi. |
| 2,057 | 2:18 pm PDT, Apr 15 | Brian Reid | Charlotte | North Carolina | I am being treated with methadone for opiate addiction. It has helped me stay away from street drugs and for some reason has stopped me from drinking. It has killed the urge to drink. I love it. |
| 2,056 | 10:17 pm PDT, Apr 14 | Anonymous | Salem | Massachusetts | I have been on Methadone for a year now and am slowly tapering off to continue on a sober way of life. Without methadone I would still be a heroin addict,broke, and with 2 options, die or go to jail. With MMT I had a 3rd option, to live life again, continue my career as a Case Worker at a homeless shelter for teens, and live happily, substance free for the 1st time in about ten years. I do not want to be on methadone forever, but it is a great tool to help you see hope and get your feet back on the ground. |
| 2,055 | 6:12 pm PDT, Apr 14 | Anonymous | redding | California | I take methadone for acute pain mgmnt. Before methadone, I was a complete failure and only street drugs were available to me and they just masked the real problem! They did not really help with chronic pain and ruined my life! Now that I have a legal script for methadone, not only is my neurological nerve pain more manageable, but I no longer desire to use street drugs! I am now able to hold a decent job and function as a normal citezen. |
| 2,054 | 12:24 pm PDT, Apr 14 | Glenn McCarthy | Cincinnati | Ohio | I have been going to a methadone clinic for over 10yrs now. If I did not find help for my pain and addiction. I know I would have killed myself. Methadone has saved me and has helped me live normal life. I do wish that my doctor could prescribe this med for addiction. I pay 13.00 a day for this medication out of my pocket. I have insurence but they do not cover this thru a clinic. |
| 2,053 | 12:02 pm PDT, Apr 13 | Nevin schell | ephrata | Pennsylvania | methadone saves lots of peoples live that would other wise od and die for opiate use and keeps them of the streets. Stops them from stealing, stops the spread of diaseases like hiv and hep c it is crazy what people are trying to do like make them have DD's these paitents drive fine. Stop trying to distroy peoples lives that are being able to rebuild them this is crazy. It makes me sick that when people can get help other people who just need somthing to bitch about try to take that help away from them. Let these people continue to get the help they need and keep them of heroin and that other junk. This is just stupid its the best possible treatment DO NOT TAKE IT AWAY! |
| 2,052 | 8:10 am PDT, Apr 13 | Anonymous | PITTSBURGH | Pennsylvania | I HAVE BEEN A HEROIN USER FOR OVER 12 YEARS AND METHADONE SAVED MY LIFE. IT GIVES YOU BACK LIFE AND MOST IMPORTANT IT GIVES BACK YOU!!! WITH EVERY DRUG THERE ARE MANY DEATHS IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT WE GET THE BLAME BECAUSE IT IS A STATE REGULATED PROGRAM. IF YOU TRULEY WANT TO GET CLEAN THERE WOULD BE NO OVERDOSE ON METH. THE OVERDOSES AND DEATHS ARE COMING FROM THE PEOPLE WHO STILL USE OTHER DRUGS WITH METHADONE, AND OF COURSE THEY ARE THEY ONES THAT THE PUBLIC SEES. YOU DONT HEAR OF THE PEOPLE THAT DO WONDERFUL THINGS ON METHADONE, AND HOW MANY LIVES IT HAS SAVED. WITHOUT MY METHADONE PROGRAM I BELIVE I WOULD NOT BE AROUND TO WRITE THIS, METHADONE HAS TRUELY SAVED MY LIFE. ITS A SHAME THAT THE COUNTRY DOESNT SEE ALL THE GOOD BEHIND THIS WONDERFUL PROGRAM. IT JUST SEES THE BAD. GRATEFUL FOR A NEW BEGINING, JODI IN PITTSBURGH |
| 2,051 | 12:56 pm PDT, Apr 12 | Anonymous | methun | Massachusetts |
Methadone Patients Against Hysteria and Further Restrictions
We are Methadone Patients, Providers, Families and Friends AGAINST the Hysteria which is calling for Further Restrictions on the Prescribing of Methadone.
There has been much written of late about the rise in deaths due to the abuse of Methadone. We lament these deaths, but feel that there has arisen an hysteria that proposes to restrict futher the prescription of this life-saving medication to the detriment of the 250,000 patients who receive this drug daily in addiction treatment programs across the United States. An overdose due to a person's recreational use of illicitly obtained methadone is NOT the fault of the drug, but of the person abusing the drug. Accidental overdoses by persons legitimately prescribed the drug for pain management purposes is again, not the fault of the drug, but of medical personnel who may not be educating patients enough to the dangers of such a long-acting analgesic. Deaths due to the recreational abuse of the drug lies with the abuser, not the substance.
Methadone when used correctly is an effective and inexpensive pain medication. In addiction treatment programs, methadone acts as endorphin replacement for the damaged brain chemistries brought about by long term exposure to opiates. It has been utilized safely and scrutinized closely for five decades, and has been declared the "gold standard" for opiate addiction treatment by our government's National Institutes of Health. It is also the most closely regulated drug in existance when used for this purpose. Investigations over the last three years by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration has shown that illicit methadone on the streets of America originates in pain management programs and NOT addiction treatment facilities.
Methadone SAVES lives! There are a quarter of a million patients receiving it daily in addiction treatment facilities across America who will attest to that fact. It is safe when used properly, and effective in the endorphin replacement therapy needed by these patients. We the undersigned wish to implore the Federal Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment(CSAT) to not fall victim to the hysteria presently surrounding this drug, and to make any changes where they belong -- in the pain management centers of America and NOT its addiction treatment programs.
An overdose death is always lamentable, but let's not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and keep any changes to the offending areas of distribution. That is NOT the opiate addiction treatment programs of America.
There has been much written of late about the rise in deaths due to the abuse of Methadone. We lament these deaths, but feel that there has arisen an hysteria that proposes to restrict futher the prescription of this life-saving medication to the detriment of the 250,000 patients who receive this drug daily in addiction treatment programs across the United States. An overdose due to a person's recreational use of illicitly obtained methadone is NOT the fault of the drug, but of the person abusing the drug. Accidental overdoses by persons legitimately prescribed the drug for pain management purposes is again, not the fault of the drug, but of medical personnel who may not be educating patients enough to the dangers of such a long-acting analgesic. Deaths due to the recreational abuse of the drug lies with the abuser, not the substance.
Methadone when used correctly is an effective and inexpensive pain medication. In addiction treatment programs, methadone acts as endorphin replacement for the damaged brain chemistries brought about by long term exposure to opiates. It has been utilized safely and scrutinized closely for five decades, and has been declared the "gold standard" for opiate addiction treatment by our government's National Institutes of Health. It is also the most closely regulated drug in existance when used for this purpose. Investigations over the last three years by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration has shown that illicit methadone on the streets of America originates in pain management programs and NOT addiction treatment facilities.
Methadone SAVES lives! There are a quarter of a million patients receiving it daily in addiction treatment facilities across America who will attest to that fact. It is safe when used properly, and effective in the endorphin replacement therapy needed by these patients. We the undersigned wish to implore the Federal Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment(CSAT) to not fall victim to the hysteria presently surrounding this drug, and to make any changes where they belong -- in the pain management centers of America and NOT its addiction treatment programs.
An overdose death is always lamentable, but let's not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and keep any changes to the offending areas of distribution. That is NOT the opiate addiction treatment programs of America.
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