Methadone Maintenance

Methadone is a synthetic opiate prescription used as "maintenance" treatment for heroin addiction. There are currently over 120,000 methadone maintenance patients in the United States, 40,000 of which are in New York State and about half that many are in California. When used in the treatment of opiate addiction, methadone maintenance suppresses withdrawal symptoms for 24 to 36 hours. The methadone maintenance option becomes convenient in this way, as the individual only need take it once a day. Methadone is readily available as a tablet, oral solution, or injectable liquid.

The goal of a methadone maintenance treatment program is to reduce illegal heroin use and the crime, death, and disease associated with heroin addiction. Methadone is commonly used in drug rehab settings to detoxify heroin addicts. However, statistics show that most heroin addicts who detox using Methadone or any other method will eventually return to heroin use. Therefore, the goal has become to more focused on eliminating heroin use among addicts by stabilizing them on methadone for as long as is necessary to help them avoid returning to previous patterns of drug use.

As with other opiate narcotics, methadone creates a feeling of well-being. Actually, methadone and heroin bind to the same receptors in the brain. In high doses or when used concurrently with other drugs or alcohol, methadone can produce some of the same effects of heroin and other opiates. Therefore, like heroin and other opiates, if an user has developed a physical dependence to the methadone and they stop taking it or decrease their dose they begin to experience methadone withdrawal. Methadone withdrawal can last up to 5 or 6 weeks and can be much more painful and uncomfortable. Past heroin users describe the horrors of heroin addiction withdrawal as being far less painful and difficult than methadone withdrawal.

Individuals taking part in methadone maintenance programs become as physically dependent on methadone as they were to heroin or other opiates (such as OxyContin or Vicodin). It is common for some individuals to remain in methadone maintenance treatment for more than ten years, an estimated 20% in fact. Some of these individuals endure methadone maintenance for the duration of their lives. But as stated earlier, heroin addicts who participate in a methadone maintenance program eventually return to heroin use. So it is unfortunate that individuals go from being addicted to heroin to being addicted to methadone, only to find themselves relapsing back into opiate use.

The more productive solution would be a drug-free detox at a drug rehab facility, where individuals addicted to opiates can take part in behavioral therapy and a long-term treatment curriculum which can resolve their addiction to all drugs. If you or someone you love is currently considering a methadone maintenance as a solution to heroin or other drug addiction please contact a professional drug treatment counselor who can provide details of other treatment options which would be more effective long-term. There are many other ways to safely end methadone addiction including drug-free alternatives that will put the individual back on the right track.