Pubdate: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Prince George Citizen Contact: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350 Author: Frank Peebles Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) METHADONE HELPS ADDICTS, SAYS PROGRAM FOUNDER Methadone drastically improves the lives of many opiate addicts, in spite of some abuses that do take place, says the founder of the city's methadone program. Dr. Lawrence Fredeen said methadone is literally saving lives in some cases and greatly helping many others. It is a drug that is used as a safer version of heroin or morphine for those addicted to those narcotics. Fredeen was responding to criticisms of the methadone system by a recovering addict in a Citizen story on Monday. She said methadone was abused by people she knew on the streets, and was harder on the system than the heroin. There is some illicit use of methadone, Fredeen admitted, but it is largely controlled and monitored much more effectively than most prescription drugs that addicts like to use, and the science behind methadone has proven benefits for those willing to fight their opiate addiction. Fredeen explained that heroin causes great highs and devastating lows in the user's body and mind. "It is not the high so much as escaping the withdrawals -- to the point of doing absolutely anything to get more of the drug to avoid that feeling -- that defines heroin," he said. "Opiate abusers are a small part of the substance abuse population (about one per cent of narcotics users), but they have a disproportionate rate of emergency room visits (10 to 15 per cent of drug abuser visits) and an alarming rate of death (four to six per cent of opiate users will die each year) especially considering most are young adults who ought not to be dying under normal circumstances. They also do a disproportionate amount of crime, which leads to even more health and social costs." Methadone has some similarities to the abuser's opiate of choice, with four distinct differences: it is free (it costs Northern Health about five cents per 100-millilitre dose), thus removing the financial burden that drives users to crime; you drink it, thus removing the risks and damage of needle injections and blood-borne illnesses; it produces no high whatsoever; it ebbs and flows not spikes and crashes like heroin does, thus easing the debilitating withdrawal-based cravings. "Does methadone treat the addiction? No," said Fredeen. "You are replacing a harsh one with one that is more moderated and controlled and demonstrated to be much safer." He said focussed study of methadone users show their death rate drops to a quarter of the street-opiate user's death rate, they do one-fifth the amount of crime, their use of intravenous drugs drops to one-quarter that of the hard opiate user, and many other positive health and social effects spin off. "There are dramatic improvements on the most drastic of the opiate user's effects," he said. "It is also definitely an engagement tool. Once they are on the methadone program, they are being seen on a regular basis by a doctor and a pharmacist so we can discuss with them things like basic healthcare, housing, getting them on other programs to help them recover..." There are about 80 people on the methadone program at the Nechako Treatment Centre. (The only other place that can prescribe methadone is the Central Interior Native Health Centre.) A select number of pharmacies distribute the methadone. Each methadone user, if they are accepted into the program, must pass a six-week probationary period whereby they must drink the methadone dose (typically 60 to 100 millilitres, once per day) in front of the pharmacist. If their regular (and often random) urine tests show no signs of other drugs in their system past that six weeks, they are allowed to carry small amounts (perhaps a week's supply) of methadone home. Their urine is continually and randomly checked in order to keep close tabs on their intake of the methadone and also to ensure they don't ingest other drugs as well. The best-case scenario is for the methadone user to slowly phase off the replacement drug, but in many cases it simply maintains the user's habit but at safer and controlled levels over months or even years. Fredeen said he has seen people completely rid themselves of all drugs as a result of the methadone program and he has methadone patients today that he had six years ago when he launched the program. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom