Addiction
Methadone Maintenace
Methadone
Methadone Maintenance
Methadone maintenance is essentially the use of methadone over a period of time for the treatment of individuals who are addicted to opioid drugs such as heroin. In more formal terms the central aim of methadone maintenance is defined as follows: "Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) can help injection drug users (IDUs) reduce or stop injecting and return to productive lives" (METHADONE MAINTENANCE TREATMENT, 2002)
There is still however a certain degree of debate and contention about this form of treatment. The controversy around the use of methadone will be included in this overview of research and the benefits and concerns surrounding this form of treatment.
Overview: Benefits and Treatment Concerns
There are an increasing number of people addicted to drugs like heroin in the United States. It is estimated that about 980, 000 people are addicted to heroin as well as other opiates. Furthermore, it is estimated that five to ten thousand of these users die from drug overdoses each year. (METHADONE MAINTENANCE TREATMENT, 2002) This figure includes addiction to other types of opiates, such as oxycontin, dilaudid, and hydrocone Users of these substances run a very high health risk and can also suffer from diseases such as hepatitis and even premature death.
This form of drug abuse also has a very high financial cost. As one study on the subject notes, "A 1997 National Institutes of Health (NIH) report estimated the financial costs of untreated opiate addiction at $20 billion per year" (METHADONE MAINTENANCE TREATMENT, 2002). These costs do not include the social and emotional costs to families and communities as a result of this form of drug abuse.
Methadone Maintenance
According to figures for 2008, there were about 260,000 individuals in the United States receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment of MMT (KLeber, 2008, p.2303). However, this is not the case in many other countries and regions of the world and in Russia for example, there is strong government opposition to this form of treatment. It is argued in some quarters that the use of methadone"... replaces one form of opiate addiction with another" (Schwirtz 2008).
On the other hand, numerous reports also state...
But despite this medicinal veneer, methadone is "increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths" (Belluck 2003). Heroin and prescription opium abusers are turning to methadone often with alcohol or other drugs. They buy the drug illegally on the street -- often it is sold by addicts who have been able to obtain a large supply, though fair or foul means.
Cons: Methadone use has a number of side-effects such as constipation, sweating, loss of libido, sleep disturbance, weight gain, dental problems, vomiting, and serious bowel problems. While most of the side-effects are reduced or managed by controlled prescription, they can occasionally be severe enough to affect a person's health sufficiently for him to discontinue treatment (Withers, 1999) One of the 'advantages' of methadone, i.e., it blocks the euphoric high of heroin can
" (1995) The authors state: "The amphetamines occasioned dose-related increases in d- amphetamine-appropriate responding, whereas hydromorphone did not. Amphetamines also occasioned dose-related increases in reports of the drug being most like "speed," whereas hydromorphone did not. However, both amphetamines and hydromorphone occasioned dose-related increases in reports of drug liking and in three scales of the ARCI. Thus, some self-report measures were well correlated with responding on the drug-appropriate lever and some
Drug users should continue to receive it, because it goes a long way towards curbing the greater problem created by the primary addiction. I believe that methadone is very useful in terms of helping drug users to rehabilitate. People who make mistakes in their lives should be helped to remedy these in the best way possible, and I believe that methadone is a good tool to accomplish this. The
S. Government Publication. Methadone is an opioid that is often used as an analgesic for purposes of treating such drug addictions as heroine. It has especially been found to be successful at treating heroin withdrawal symptoms and thus originally was popular on the street before also becoming a recognized treatment used in hospitals. A study lead by Vincent Dole of Rockefeller University discovered that drug addiction was a disorder and thus
Organizational Analysis The Medical care sector is one of the most significant departments in the country today since it is a sector that includes everyone from all the classes of the citizenry. It is therefore significant that the organizational culture in such a sector be treated with utmost keenness to ensure quality services. This was one of the aims that the president had when he campaigned for the Medical Care bill
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