Pubdate: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 Source: Brandon Sun (CN MB) Copyright: 2005, Brandon Sun Contact: http://www.brandonsun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2437 Author: Eliza Barlow Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) LOCAL ADDICTS TURN TO METHADONE FOR HELP For "Justin," heading down to a Brandon pharmacy for a paper cup of methadone-laced orange juice has been a crucial part of his daily routine for the past 10 months. If he missed a day, or even if he arrived at the pharmacy a little later than usual, the cravings for morphine that nearly ruined his life last year will start to creep back and consume him. "I used to be a slave to a drug dealer - now I'm a slave to a pharmacy and a clinic," the 25-year-old Brandon University student told the Sun. "But it was either go on the methadone program or keep playing Russian roulette. It's only a matter of time before you overdose, or you poke an artery and hemorrhage to death." This time last year, both Justin and his roommate were trapped in a downward spiral of injection drug abuse - morphine was his drug of choice - and despair. As the Sun reported yesterday, Justin's morphine addiction, which began with him popping pills but progressed to intravenous use, had ravaged his body to the point where only 150 pounds were left on his 6-foot-1 frame. He had become estranged from his family and was forced to leave university because his $50-a-day morphine habit was controlling his life. It was last spring when, through the fog of the addiction, Justin's roommate mentioned a methadone maintenance treatment program, run by the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba in Winnipeg, that could kill the constant cravings. "We were both going through hell and we were like, 'We need a way out,'" Justin recalled. Within weeks, Justin made the trip to Winnipeg, got a methadone prescription, began the maintenance program and started to get his life back. "Ever since I've been on the methadone program, my life has totally turned around," he said. Methadone, a synthetic opiate, is used across North America as a "harm-reduction" treatment for people addicted to the opiate class of drugs - - heroin, morphine, OxyContin, Tylenol-3 and other painkillers. Taking it every day kills opiate-dependent people's cravings for the drugs and keeps them from engaging in the high-risk activity of intravenous drug use. Health Canada says methadone maintenance treatment can reduce criminal activity, death and curb the spread of blood-borne diseases like Hepatitis C and HIV. While AFM has been running a methadone clinic in Winnipeg since the mid-1980s, Brandon addicts have always had to travel into Winnipeg to begin the program, and must travel back to the clinic every time they need their prescription renewed. Doctors need a special licence to prescribe methadone, a controlled substance, and prescriptions are kept short - some last only a week. And because most patients remain on methadone for years, the distance is a major hurdle that likely prevents a lot of Brandon addicts from getting help, keeping them in the clutches of their risky and expensive habits. AFM plans to open a clinic here this spring, a delay of more than eight months from the original target opening date. Methadone clinics have caused controversy when they've opened in other cities because some residents worried the clinics would attract drug dealers preying on a fresh market of vulnerable drug addicts. But Justin thinks a methadone program here would actually reduce crime - police admit some thefts and robberies are carried out by addicts desperate to pay for a fix. "The last thing we need right now is the public to be against it," Justin said. "For me, it saved my life and it will do the same for a lot more people if we get a program out here." Methadone is also becoming the subject of controversy recently for another reason - recreational use of the drug has been blamed in the deaths of hundreds of people in the United States. In Manitoba, methadone has been blamed in 50 deaths since 2000, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Rick Drennar, supervisor of AFM's methadone program in Winnipeg, said that's exactly why methadone is so tightly controlled - patients must drink the dose in front of a health-care professional, and prescriptions can be as short as one week. "Methadone is a very dangerous drug if you don't have a tolerance for an opiate," he said. "It can kill you." - ---