These anti-patient regulations are based on fear, stigma and prejudice--NOT on facts, studies or science. Countless studies have been done involving methadone maintenance patients and driving ability--and they all show that patients who are on chronic, long term opioid therapy are tolerant of the effects of their medication and can drive as well as those NOT on medication, and that there is NO medical reason to restrict driving privileges beased on this. These people are comparing someone who is not opioid tolerant and has just been wheeled out of surgery or treatment in a HOSPITAL to someone who is extremely tolerant of a dose of medication that, in stable patients, does NOT cuase a high or euphoria nor significantly impair motor function or response time. That is patently ridiculous, and is an obvious ploy to make treatment so difficult to access that the patients will give up trying--that is what commissioner Moore wants. He has stated on public message boards that he will do whatever he can to run the clinic out of town--using whatever means are at his disposal. I only hope lawmakers can see through this kind of blatant chicanery. And tell me--is it really ok to have children visit their parents in traditional rehabs, and even in PRISON, but not attend a medical appointment with them? Ludicrous! These patients are supposed to locate someone to drive them from each appointment every single day, and someone else to watch their kids every single day, and presumably pay these people in addition to paying exorbitant clinic fees--this puts treatment into the realm of the impossible for most patients--and that is the idea here. Note that this proposed bill even makes it mpossible for the patients to walk or take the bus home from appointments--they must have a driver, lest they go insane and start frothing at the mouth or knuckle-walking and hooting.

...excruciatingly ignorant? *sigh*

Before I comment, does this new bill exempt patients with medical marijuana recommendations from their doctors? Does Indiana even have medical marijuana legislation, and if so, is it addressed in this bill?
--------------------------------------

I was a heroin addict for 8 years. I grew up in a middle class family, always had good grades, and was a physics major at the university of TX at Austin. I was the white sheep of the family, and expectations were high.

I felt so much pressure, and was so depressed, that when I first tried heroin in my junior year, I was already well-positioned to become an addict. The cycle lasted about 8 years...including going to jail for possession, many rehabs, many withdrawals, and many relapses.

I finally realized that I was fast approaching the point of no return. I felt I was a good person, but my addiction, in our "war on drugs" society, was ruining me. I was in total despair. If I didn't do something fast, I was going to either die or go to prison. I was miserable without opiates, and I was miserable and ruining my/my family's life with them. So, I did what I had been reluctant to do since the beginning...I went to a methadone clinic. I haven't used since, and that was February of 2002. My girlfriend/family just took me out last weekend to the symphony/dinner to celebrate my 6 year anniversary.

I am now going back to school, finishing my physics major, and will be starting graduate school soon after.

Methadone is different from other opiates in a number of significant ways, one of which is the cause of some overdoses. For one, unlike heroin, methadone has a very long half life. With heroin you're constantly going up and down...from being sick, to being well. Everyday one physically and mentally goes back and forth from one extreme to another. However, with methadone, this is not the case. I feel no up and down effect that is so pronounced with short acting opiates like heroin, morphine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc...

Not once since starting methadone 6 years ago have I felt any kind of high or mental impairment. The unique nature of methadone's half-life enable one to be on a stable dose without the up and down "high" feeling, and it also acts as a blocking agent so even if I used heroin I would not feel it. Its longer half-life also effectively eliminates the problem of increased tolerance. So a person on a stable methadone dose should not have to continually increase their dose to stay stable (minor adjustments are sometimes necessary over the years, but that's negligible when compared to heroin).

The other unique characteristic of methadone is that, unlike heroin and other short-acting opiates again, methadone does not occupy ALL of your opiate receptors. Heroin occupies all of them, so your body stops producing the normal endorphins/natural opiates because it is getting them from an outside source. Part of withdrawal is your body re-starting that process of creating those natural opiates in the brain. Sometimes the brain heals partially, rarely completely, and sometimes not at all. Well, methadone does NOT occupy all of the receptors, so your brain can slowly begin to heal, and the patient isn't constantly assailed with unreasonable depression and cravings.

The "methadone has saved my life" comment has been denigrated often, but cliches are cliches for a reason....they are common. It is difficult to explain to someone who has never been opiate dependent, but I tried abstinence only treatment modalities for years, unsuccessfully, before I finally went to MMT. NA, AA, rational recovery, you name it, I've done it. And I really put my soul into it (drank the kool-aid I would say). I went to NA every day for 10 months once, but never felt relief from unbearable depression and opiate cravings. And this is not depression that responds to normal anti-depressants such as SSRI, SSNRI's, or tri-cyclics. It is specific to opiate addicts, and methadone allows one to live without that pain, and allows your brain to heal at the same time.

Sure, there are deaths/diversion. Most of the diversion comes from places other than addiction clinics, but to say that methadone is the most diverted drug is silly. Even with my history, I've never seen methadone on the street. Never. And, I've never sold or given any of my take homes away. I keep them in a safe, hidden. Xanax, and other benzos are so much more diverted.

The issue of driving, IMO, is also a position of ignorance. An opiate naive person who goes for outpatient surgery is given opiates and other narcotics for the express reason of sedating them. The opiate tolerant methadone patient is not sedated, not "high", and studies have shown that it does not impair a person's performance to drive a car or otherwise. Sure, using it with other drugs, and in unwise quantities can impair you, but that is not the situation with most methadone patients....no more than it is with people on other meds, such as anti-depressants and cold medications. There is no discernible difference in my coordination or ability to drive now on methadone than there was before I ever tried an opiate. Methadone stable patients are neither sedated, or impaired.

I ask that you really look at the research, and don't put such a vital treatment for so many in jeopardy because of someone's misuse of the drug and/or misunderstanding of what it can do to them and how it should be used.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment.

JLR

People need to be educated before making judgements and especially laws. I have seen many methadone clinics and the people who are going to them are not bad people. You do not see a bunch of people outside the clinic acting like a bunch of idiots, copping drugs, wearing filthy dirty rags, or anything like that. I see people who had a drug problem and are seeking help for it. Driving while taking methadone is not any bigger of a problem than driving on antibiotics. People who take methadone are tolerant of it, and if they do drive like an idiot, chances are they have always driven that way. I've been on methadone for 7 years, after getting addicted to oxycontin, and have never had an accident or ticket. I drive better now than before because I'm very content with my life, where before I wasn't, and methadone is the reason for this. People with epilepsy are allowed to drive with no restrictions, as are many, many others on medication, so why should methadone be so different? Cancer patients drive on medications such as opiates, as do a lot of people, but methadone patients are the only ones being discriminated against? If you will do some research, there are many articles about driving and methadone, and all of them say there is nothing to worry about, so why is so much effort being put into doing something that will only make it harder on methadone patients? Would the Indiana state legislature rather see people out here copping drugs on the street, driving while high, putting not only their lives in danger, but the lives of others? No, they wouldn't. But they are not giving patients much of a choice now are they? Certain people in the House and Senate need to do some real research, not just make judgement calls on something they know little about. And, most people who overdose on methadone, have mixed it with another drug, and the other drug is actually what caused their death, not the methadone, and to those family members who have lost loved ones to methadone alone, I'm truly sorry, but just as many people have died from other drugs also. This is a life saving medication for so many people, and it's becoming harder and harder on them and all they are trying to do is get better. It's sad. Tjkel

From the White House office of Drug Control~
Methadone is NOT sedating or intoxicating, not dies it interfere with ordinary activities such as driving or operating machinery.
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/methadone/index...

Also check out~
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:zrfncclyrbuj:www.comproveders.com/f...

AND~
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/sl3p4.htm

These all say there is absolutely NO reason why people on methadone cannot drive while taking it. Why hasn't the Indiana State legislature taken these article and research into perspective? The first one is from the White House drug policy, and shows there is no reason for concern. I guess they have just chosen to ignore the facts and go by an uneducated guess. Tjkel

I am very upset by the latest news of this new law they are trying to pass. I have been a patient at an Indiana Clinic for 3 years and will be completing my detox in aprox. 10-15 weeks. I was addicted to oxycottins. The clinic has been a big help, with out it I would probably be dead or almost dead. If this ridiculous law would have been in affect back then, I never would have seeked help. And if I did seek help, there would have been no way for me to get to my appointments. If passed, this law is going to prevent 1,000s of troubled people from getting the help they really need which will create a even bigger problem. Then you will have even more un-monitored drug addicts out on the road that will actually cause problems just like a drunk driver, all because they have no way of seeking help, because they have to drive to and from the clinic, plus go to work.

To be successful at a clinic you have to be able to keep a solid routine, otherwise if you are detoxing you body will get out of sync/wack, causing you to feel even sicker. With the no driving law, people will have to rely on friends and family to get to the clinic causing them to have a screwed up schedule, thus hampering their recovery.

There are many myths out there about methadone, like it rots your teeth and it gets in your bones. These are completely false, but yet everyone and even some ignorant doctors believe them. People teeth go bad when they get on methadone because when they were using drugs they didn't take care of their teeth. So when they started getting back to normal at the clinic and starting to take care of their-selves their teeth start rotting and everyone says its because of the methadone. When really it is simply because they didn't take care of them before and the damage had already been done and the problem worsens. The problem is because their gumlines had receeded as an addict, exposing the roots of the tooth. This is just a simple example of how concepts surrounding methadone have gotten twisted into something that it isn't.

When you are on a maintenance dose you do not get a buzz. You don not get deadly sleepy, {Unless You Are Using Other Prescriptions Like :Xanox) or are getting extra methadone off of the street so they can get a buzz. Yes some patients are on high dosages, but that is because they were using large amounts of opiates when they were an addict. In order for them to use a maintnance dose correctly they will have to have a large amount to equal their tollarance. Everyones tolerance is different, it depends on many factors like weigth and the amount of drugs you were using before getting treatment. This is no different than an older person taking pain pills for their pain, once they have been on it for awhile the doctor increases their dose because their tolerance goes up and it doesn't help them anymore requiring a higher dosage. Addicts are the same except we get up to extremely high amounts. So a patient of a clinic will be on high dosages, but it is because of their tolerance to the drug. Once they get to a comfortable level of methadone, then they start detoxing a little at a time. Again through out this whole process there is no buzz, no sleepyness or drowsiness.

There are some patients I have seen and they can't keep their eyes open. This isn't because of the methadone. This is because they are using other drugs or getting more methadone off the street. And when counselors, nurses or doctor sees patients like this, they get drug tested or they will not give them their methadone for the day and will make sure they have someone to take them home.

There are a lot worse drivers on the road, than a clinic patient that is getting their life back. The next time your driving down the road count how many people you see talking on cell phones not paying attention to what they are doing. You will be surprised by the amount of dangerous drivers there are on the road all because they have to talk on their cell phone. There are much more people in this state with a cell phone that causes accidents and problems while driving than a clinic patient that is taking the program seriously and not using drugs.

The clinic enables people to stay in their environment where they have to stand up to their problem, instead of hiding behind closed doors in a rehab facility that creates an artificial life for you. At the clinic you are able to get better in the environment that got you there in the first place, so then you are confronted with that environment everyday, instead of hiding behind closed doors away from all the demons. You have to test and strain your demons in order to learn how to stay away from them. If you just hide from them, they will keep following you around. This way you are able to learn how to stay out of and get out of real life situations that make you want to use. The clinic provides this environment with the addition of qualified professionals to help steer you in the right direction in your element of life.

No kids allowed, that a joke. If thats the case, kids shouldn't be allowed to go to a doctors office with their parent. Whats the difference? People at the clinic are repsectable human beings, that have a few problems. Its no different than going to a resturaunt that serves beer and drinking it in the family section with kids. Speacially when the does are monitored by the nurses and security guard and all take homes are to be in a locked bag at all times, even if empty.

This law is created by un-informed, un-educated people that need to do their research. You should always think before you act, but what does the government do?

I saw another article about the driving conditions in southern Indiana, and can see why the sudden upset. A clinic is a crazy, busy place, just like the busiest gas station on the road. It is the same thing just a different business, except everyone is automatically labeled as bad people because they are addicted to drugs. BIG DEAL. Gas stations have wrecks happen just as much because of people being high on drugs or just plain stupid same thing. Except their not at a business that helps addicts so its ok. You see its really a bigger problem at the gas station, can you say BOOM!!! Usaully its because someone roles through on a cell phone. You know what a CELL PHONE can be an addiction too. If you talk on the phone to much while you drive, causing you not to pay attention then you are addicted to the cell phone, but hey we don't label you a looser because you can't go without your cell phone causing you to almost hit kids, cars and even parked cars. I'm more afraid a person on a phone will kill me than of a drunk driver hitting me. What about you, just think about it.

People at the clinic are in a hurry, they have lives and jobs they have to attend to. Many people are forced to come as early as they can, standing in the freezing cold rain or shine, just so they can get to work on time to support their families. You would be in a hurry to. Like when you wake up late and have no gas and you fly into the parking lot(almost hitting a car or a small child) while talking on your cell phone and not paying attention to anyone around you because you have to get to work so you don't loose your job.

Many people have to go to the clinic on their lunches and don't have much time to spare.

It would help the traffic and lines by simply opening sooner and staying open later. Simple as that.

I like to tell people that don't know nothing about addiction, drugs and the methadone clinic that a clinic patient is like a diabetic, if they don't get their dose they will get sick and not be able to work or lead a productive life. A diabetic doesn't get high, nor does a clinic patient. The only difference is that the clinic patient has the hope of getting off the medicine, while the diabetic will never quit taking their shot. Both are able to lead full, effective and productive lives if they take their medicine has prescribed. This is just analogy, I know they are different, but as a patient this is the best way I have found to explain how treatment works to someone who know nothing about it.

Most people have the wrong facts and not enough of the good ones to make the right predictions about this topic. I have found that if you have never dealt with addiction that you will never have a clear understanding of the underlying problems or the motives behind an addicts mind.

The bottom line here people is that we are all screwed. I live in Northwest Indiana and ever since Porter County asked for a clinic, we have been under drastic and devastating scrutiny by the House Public Health Committee. First, we were taken away our Sunday doses. We now go seven days a week. Now they've hit us with this no one under 18 to be in the clinic issue as well as the designated driver issue. Hey, I wonder if the Senate would like to sponsor a "junkie" or two to drive to the clinic every single day in order to be their "designated driver"? NO?! Didn't think so. It's our problem now and we will just basically have to deal with it until some other travesty worse than the methadone clinic comes around and then they'll lay off of us and go after someone else. God help the next lucky victim. God help us all.

Jamie Nagy
Methadone Client and Irritated Taxpayer...

methadone is the MOST studied drug,bar none. Possibley because the federal government started perscribing it for free, to help combat the war on drugs, and the numbers of opiate addicted vetrans of vietnam returning, after their forced tour of duty.
It has been scrutinized in every possible way, since before it was made available, in the 1960's.No, it dosen't affect one's ability to drive.No, you don't get 'high'.I would ask that you do your research
(which you,as a tax payer, have already paid for.)The research is there, for anyone to read.Please do your homework, before passing more needless laws, which only serve to lead us into ignoance.The "drug problem", came into existence, the day after legilation was passed, to demonize, and outlaw them.If you study your history, drug laws were passed to be used against the "lesser races".A knee jerk reaction to racisim.(I don't write history, nor do I make it up.)We live in a free country, where it is still legal to read and study it, for yourself.Please do so!

I would love to challenge State Representative Steve Stemler to a debate on this subject. He might be a goverment official and be of high intelligence, however in a debate on this topic i would literally stomp his ass. What a uneducated fool, comparing a MMT client to a person just out of surgery when driving a vehicle. Let me tell you Mr. Stemler, after i dose in the morning, i drive an hour to work and then continue to work for 10 to 12 hours. I certainly do not think that someone leaving surgery would be nearly able to drive and certainly wouldn't be able to work for a half a day. So if you are going to declare that you're main basis for SB 157 then you need to get another analogy buddy. Instead of just being a prick why not try and use some intelligence, maybe the intelligence that got you where you are today because you definitely aren't using it right now. This bill is sooo outrageous and ridiculous its not even funny. If you want me to have a designated driver after i dose, then you sir better make sure every f'kn patient that goes to a pharmacy that gets prescribed to narcotics better have a damn DD everywhere they go. And one more thing, if this bill does pass, please get ready to build extensions to all of the county jails in indiana because you sure as hell will need the extra space with over 10,000 persons on methadone that you are trying to endanger, so go get educated before you use your power and make a dumbass decision

What's even scarier is that with the thousands who simply CAN'T get to their clinic every day will have no other choice but to stop going. If a single clinic loses hundreds of paients,it will no doubt cause at least some to close their doors. After all,they ARE businesses. They have to pay their counselors,nurses,doctors,security,building costs,property taxes,electricity,clinic fees,etc. Many patients drive far distances and it's hard enough getting there themselves let alone having someone else take them. I personally have about an hour's drive one way-which is not TOO bad,but some drive MUCH further than that... a lot of patients will be screwed.

I believe there's an over-all bigger motive behind these new amendments. Those here who say the senators and house members need "educated" before they introduce bills such as this...well,they are. There's NO WAY any politician would attempt to introduce something of this nature without being at least minimally aware of methadone and it's effects. They know. At least they know as much as they CARE to know...

I believe they know this will be a tremendous strain on the clinics themselves. Possibly even causing enough financial damage to,hopefully in their eyes,cause them to collapse on themselves and force closures. Clinics are looked down upon-everyone knows this. What better way to deal with the "problem" of clinics than to eliminate them?

I've been a patient at an Indiana clinic for almost 7 years now. I am a single mother of 2 and take care of my elderly father. I also work full time. I am terrified of what I will have to do when this designated driver crap goes into effect. I can't stop thinking of my past days when I used and how I DO NOT ever want to go back to that. I feel as though I will be forced to because some uneducated jerk decided methadone patients are intoxicated after they dose. Is there anything we, as patients, can do to prevent this? I am afraid my life will become a mess again after 7 years of getting it all back together since being on MMT. If these people knew the facts about methadone they would never try to pass something like this. I thought it was bad everyone got harrassed by the cops almost every day on the street leading to the clinic and now this. Looks like they will do anything, short of shutting the places down, to get us "dope heads" out of their community. Good luck to all in this situation!!

you have got to be kidding me. when a person goes into surgery they are sedated so as not to wake up and feel the pain, cutting into the skin and/or organs, etc. that absolutely CAN NOT be compared to methadone patients. surgery patients may be prescribed narcotics after the surgery but the reason they ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE THEMSELVES HOME IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN SEDATED FOR THE SURGERY. what kind of idiot would compare that to a patient at a methadone clinic who is tolerant of their dose and feels absolutely NO side effects from their methadone dose. this is going to cause so many problems for people in a methadone program who have worked so hard to get their lives back together. methadone maintenance can be a very effective and positive thing for heroin addicts. that has been proven in recent studies. please do your research before you agree with such a ludacris decision as having a designated driver after dosing.

I have been a patient at East Indiana Treatment Center for a little over two years. I live in a town called Walton about 35-40 min from EITC. My day starts at 4:00 a.m. when I leave to get to the Clinic before 5:00 to join the "Workpass" line. This is a privilege granted to those who show proof of there employment and that they must be to work by 6:30. In order for me to wake up on time I must go to sleep at 7:00 p.m. Where am I supposed to find a designated driver at that time in the morning. I've been told by clinic staff that I will be exempt from the rule because I live in Kentucky. To further compound this problem after two years of treatment they finally tested me for THC, shocking my counselor as well as me. The general feeling I had gotten was that they didn't like it but that it wasn't in need of the attention drugs like cocaine, heroin, and benzodiazepines/barbituates. So, I lost my take-home doses and am now required to attend a THC Group meeting. This is okay with me but I feel that I was overlooked and am now suffering the consequences. I already attended a relapse prevention group focused on the "hard drugs" each Monday. Now, in order to continue that group I must get to the clinic by 4:30 a.m. for the relapse group and stay until 8:00 for the THC Group. The new rules seem to be aimed at eliminating people from treatment as well as driving them back to illicit drug use. You can't argue with the reality of "street drugs": You don't need to have a prescription, You can get as much as you want so you don't have go out as much, And you don't have the fear that it will be closed down (There's always another drug dealer). In closing I just want to say that the future looks bleak for us all as we give up our freedoms for the ILLUSION of safety.

Hello-
You said quote: "I've been told by clinic staff that I will be exempt from the rule because I live in Kentucky." So the staff told you that being you live outside Indiana,you're exempt from the proposed "designated driver" law? I haven't heard that. I assumed it applied to ALL patients that receive a dose...regardless where you live. I too attend EITC and have been going for just over 2 years. I live in Ohio and am curious if this is true or not. I seriously don't see why it would matter where you live-you're still dosing and driving in Indiana. If anything,I would think they would be more apt to enforce out-of-state drivers because they have further to drive.

And moreover,I can't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone at the clinic-DID THE BILL PASS OR NOT??? All I hear is that they didn't vote on it on Feb. 21st.-and no reason why they didn't was given,either. I thought that maybe it did and staff didn't want everyone to get into a panic-again,it's just my assumptions. If anyone can give an answer,I'd appreciate it. If they didn't vote,why not? Thanks in advance!

what is going on with this? does anyone know? the clinic hasn't said anything else and won't say anything else except not to worry about it. what's up with this law they're trying to pass?

The bill DID pass.However,there were revisions to the bill-the section that requires patints to have a designated driver dropped off. But another section was added requiring clinics to test for ALL illicit drugs-including marijuana-EVERY DRUG SCREEN. That's why they started testing for it recently and started these "THC Classes". They're(clinics)are actually not required to start this until July 1st,2008-when the bill(now signed into Law) goes into effect. But they've started this anyway. I have a friend(I also attend)that's been going to EITC for over 8 years-he's never been tested for THC and all his counselors have told him either "they don't test for it" or "don't worry about it". He has been at a week's takehome for about 7 years-and has NEVER had an illicit urine screen...until now. He was tested 3 weeks ago and tested positive for THC.Now must attend the 4-week THC classes and provide 3 clean urines before he can phase back up to where he was(he was dropped to "B" level-3 takehomes per week). I,fortunately,don't smoke it so I'm lucky I suppose. But the thing is,is he was given NO warning-his counselor said that notes were posted all over the clinic. After his session,he looked all over-not one memo up. The next day he went,they were plastered all over the building. Anyway,the variances in the marijuana regulations between Ohio and Kentucky's vs. Indiana's were the main concern...as OH and KY tested regularly whereas IN didn't.

Here's a couple links that tells all about "Law 0157":

ACTION LIST: http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2008&request=...

This shows when it started,what happened and when different senators/reps joined,signed,etc. The "timeline" so to speak.

****************************************************************************

LAW 0157:
http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2008/SE/SE0157.1.html

This is the actual BILL 0157 after it was amended to it's final state (and ultimately is now LAW 0157). It tells about the THC mandatory testing as well as other laws that mainly pertain to the clinics themselves.

****************************************************************************

Hope this helps. Good luck with your treatment all.

I do speak from experience, I was on a methadone clinic for 15 years on a dose of 150 mg per day. What I say, I say as truth and fact and from personal experience. I'm an old time heroin addict, in recovery, and was on a government run clinic back when they first started, and there were very few people on the clinics unlike today. Over my 60 years, I have had many friends that were and still are on different methadone clinics in the United States.
The main problem in the Indiana area, is that there are not enough educated counselors and staff to pay attention to the patients and know what to look for, they only know what they read in a book about drug addiction.
The driving problem comes from patients that don't use their doses properly or daily, and when they come in after going 3 days without a dose and drink 100 mg or more, and then down the road they shoot some more of their cherry syrup, and get so high they can't drive. Sure there is not a lot of risk if the patients are stable and are using their doses as perscribed, but what about those that don't? After all we are dealing with drug addicts here, remember! If you give a true drug addict a week or month's worth of take homes, a few thousand milligrams of methadone, and don't expect them to try and get high, you are living in a dream world. Some may have the good sense to wait until they get home or to a safe place to double and triple up on their doses, others are drinking or shooting their 2nd and 3rd take home dose before they leave the area.
Sure there are some patients that truely are trying to work the program right, and are stable and doing what they are suppose to, but without the proper supervision and without enough staff and counselors to really know whats going on, it is a real problem.
In Jeffersonville, Indiana, you have one doctor that perscribes methadone to over 3000, that's three thousand plus patients, do you really think this doctor knows who his patients are? If you do you are sadly mistaken. There are simple things that can be done to insure these clinics are run correctly, but with most things, you run into all the civil rights activist, and all the people that want to have their cake and eat it too. Worst of all is that these "For Profit" methadone clinics, really care little about their patients, and are only in it to make money, and to basically keep track of the addicts in the area.
If a person really wants help and wants to get off drugs, they are not going to subsitute the strongest synthetic narcotic available (methadone) for a lesser drug like Loratab, percocet, and other forms of codeine, with the idea that they are getting off drugs. This is like treating someone who drinks 2 glasses of wine or beer a day with a 5th of 80 proof whisky, vodka or any other stronger alcohol. The only thing this accomplishes is getting the patient more strung out than they have ever been in their lives. Treating a codeine addict with methadone, a drug that is ten times more addicting than heroin, is only doing the patient a grave mis-justice. The only thing these clinics are doing is getting them jacked up on a high dose, and making lots of money of the patient. Patients that choose to get on methadone who are not addicted to heroin, or have not been using for a year or longer, and who have not tried every other form of treatment available, are really doing themselves a dis-service, and so is the clinic. Using methadone to treat anything other than narcotic addiction is also wrong. Treating alcoholism, crack addiction and people that take 5 or 6 loratabs a day with methadone, is the bigest mistake these counselors, doctors and clinics make. Most of these patients are just looking for a way to get a legal perscription and supply of stronger drugs, that they can sell to pay their fees or just to make money and get high.
The whole for profit methadone clinic thing has turned into a real joke and the biggest mistake in America.

I was addicted to the pain medicine perocet, from the doctor, he was an old small town dr that never told me the dangers of addiction. I have been going to the clinic and it has helped in many ways. Many people may not want to believe this, but I was never looking for a high. I have not used other drugs except precribed ones. I took my percocets like the dr told me to, but my body still got addicted. If someone is on methadone and still using other drugs then you are not ready to really quit and make the changes you need in your life.You need more counseling than what the clinic gives you. I think that the clinic can be a positive thing if used properly. I have read about all these people nodding after dosing, I think if that is happening then their dose is way to high. The only time I may do that is if I haven't had any sleep, but alot of otc medicines will do the same if you haven't had sleep. My dose is right for me, I function normally everyday without nodding. I believe the clinic should be very strict in take homes and dosing. Someone who is wanting to get high even on methadone they need to be watched closer. The clinic is there to help and if people would use the program the way it is intended then the city, state, and residents wouldn't have to worry about things so much. People can drive safely, and take care of their children better. Citizens also need to remember that if people are getting help, then that does keep them off the streets and crimes down for their community. And for all the ones who don't use the clinic properly and the wonderful people who work there and care about us, and if your not going to try and really help yourself, stay away and not ruin it for everyone else who tries to do things right. In my opinion there is different types of people who have drug problems, one is the ones who really want help and aren't looking for a high and then the ones who can't get enough no matter what their methadone dose is. I believe that when entering the clinic your treatment should classify you (in some sense) to determine the proper way to treat your needs. The 1st type should be encouraged to finish the program asap, so they don't get stuck on methadone and it becoems a problem to get off of. I know most of the patients are habitual street addicts, and their treatment should be different, I am no therapist and can't detail everything, but I do think the clinic can do things upon entrance of the program to make the program more successful. It seems that all patients have the same treatment program no matter how different their needs are. I think they should not allow patients to reach such a high methadone dose level. Ex. I feel that somone on 150 mg dose is not going to keep them from cravings more than a dose of 60 mg. Bottom line is ... I am glad to have MMT, I think they should be very strict and I am sure there are changes MMT can take to make things better and more successful, and the state should address concerns, but lets just make everything as positive as can be and don't judge all patients like a common drug criminal. No program, goverment or person is perfect and there is always room for improvement for everyone.

i am a mother of 6 i never touched no drugs untill 3 yrs. ago i got hurt very bad and i also got a addiction very bad now my world is controlled by drugs i need help now i am destroying my childrens life as well as mine please help me find a methadone clinic i just want to be me