Pubdate: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 Source: Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH) Copyright: 2011 Telegraph Publishing Company Contact: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/885 Author: Simon Rios DRUG PROBLEM IN DEPENDENCY FIGHT GROWING The recreational use of a drug intended to fight opiate dependency is growing in Nashua. Since 2009 there have been 16 Suboxone-related arrests in Nashua five for intent to distribute. Nationally, it is listed as the second-highest cause of accidental deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2007, 27,658 such deaths were reported. Nashua police Lt. Scott Hammond, head of the narcotics division, said it's common for addicts to sell Suboxone to purchase heroin. Hammond sees himself as part councilor, part cop. He believes treatment must be paired with law enforcement to adequately treat the scourge of opiate addiction. "What we're finding now in the majority of our cases, is that if you have somebody that is an addict, the courts are now mandating some sort of treatment program for them. ... If the courts are going to mandate that you have to get into a treatment program, well, we have to provide more treatment programs for people." Dr. Harold Rosenblatt agrees. "To believe that taking a pill every day or twice a day is going to treat this disease by itself is not going to be sufficient," said Rosenblatt, who works at Merrimack River Medical Services, which specializes in drug addiction treatment services. "A person needs to have support, they need to have counseling." Rosenblatt, who prescribes Suboxone and methadone, thinks it's nice to have something other than methadone to treat addiction but recognizes the downside. Unlike, methadone, which is usually administered in a clinic with a nurse watching, patients receive take-home prescriptions for Suboxone so less monitoring occurs. Suboxone's manufacturer claims the drug's molecular structure gives it a "ceiling effect," meaning the brain's opioid receptors will only absorb so much of the drug and taking higher doses will not result in a greater high. This reduces the risk of overdose, unless it is combined with alcohol or benzodiazepines like Valium. August West has been using opiates like percocet, oxycontin and heroin for four years, since he was released from the Coast Guard. West, 28, of Nashua, spoke from the American Legion on the condition that his real name wasn't used. West comes from a family of addicts, including his mother, father and fiancee. He began using Suboxone two years ago, when a friend said it offered an exit from stronger drugs. "I definitely developed a huge habit, and I love the feeling. ... I wouldn't do it if it didn't make me feel good," West said. "I have a ton of anxiety, and with the Suboxone, it just makes you feel, like, invincible. " West gets his Suboxone on the street for $15 for an 8 milligram pill. "I know people that are injured, amputees, they got pills, they have insurance so they get 'em for nothing," West said. He said he has tried kicking Suboxone but never made it past three days, when withdrawals symptoms began. West said health care costs prohibit many would-be patients from getting Suboxone through legal routes, a statement that Rosenblatt backs up. "There would be a doctor charge, there may be a clinic charge, there would probably be a charge for laboratory testing, in addition, anyone on Suboxone or methadone should be in some kind of counseling, so there may also be a cost associated with that," Rosenblatt said. Nonetheless, West said Suboxone has allowed him a stability he has not known since he first became hooked. "It's allowing me to get through the day and just be normal," West said. "There will come a day when I'm done and I stop everything, it will happen. But not right now. It's not my plan." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.