Effects of Methadone Treatment on Heroin Dependency

Heroin, a powerful narcotic, acts upon the brain as a painkiller, increasing physical addiction and ongoing emotional dependence (Schaffer Library of…). Heroin has many challenging and highly risky effects on the user, all the more hazardous if overdosing is present. This extremely dangerous drug, heroin, will never cease being used, but may cease the existence of an individual.

This paper is intended to educate those who almost nothing about heroin and those who use it. Many people have been associated with friends or families who have used some kind of drug. There are many people who have not had any contact with heroin users or if they have, don’t understand much about it. Using various sources about heroin to explain where it came from, how it is used, who uses it and how a person starts on the path towards heroin, preventing addiction, and global issues surrounding this drug. Although the topic of heroin is inexhaustible, it is my hope to spark reader’s curiosity. Knowledge of this drug might just help the reader join in on discussions about heroin.

Depending on the source, some would term the heroin and opioid problem in the United States a crisis, while others would use the word epidemic. Regardless of which expression is more accurate, the situation regarding heroin and opioid use, abuse and dependence has ignited national, if not global concern. History shows us that pervasive dilemmas have a tendency to cultivate a variety of intervention and the heroin and opioid crisis is no different.

Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and

This literature review will focus mainly on the drug use of heroin, the scary numbers behind the drug and the sudden rise of overdosing on the drug across the United States. Issues that will be discussed are what is Heroin, what’s in Heroin that makes it addicting, how it can increase the users risk of contracting other life threatening diseases and where it’s use and abuse are most popular across the United states and we will take a look at multiple studies that show examples of our new drug problem in the United States. While we looked at how homicide rates have dropped while in class, the flip side to that is that the amount of drug usage has risen.

Heroin addiction is one of the leading killers of adolescents and adults in the United States. In recent years, addiction has skyrocketed, and “the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths increased by 286 percent between 2002 and 2013.” In 2002, “100 people per 100,000 were addicted to heroin, and that number has doubled by 2013” (The National Institute on Drug Abuse 2013). The most affected populations include low income males, adolescents, and those who have a family history of addiction, due to their increased susceptibility and crime-ridden environment. While it may seem as though heroin addiction is “just another drug problem” in the U.S., it is actually a problem of major public health importance because there are numerous physical, economic, and social risks associated with heroin dependence. Heroin dependence in the United States accounts for brain damage, increased homelessness, crime, and incarceration rates, as well as economic decline.

Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) is used with opioid dependency and is an opioid replacement therapy. MMT typically replaces heroin with Methadone which is a cleaner substance than heroin, and is used to avoid withdrawal and allow the user to function normally within society. MMT has been around for the last 50 years, and research studies have been conducted to address the benefits and the complications associated with this replacement therapy. This paper will examine some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with MMT and reflect on personal ideals in accordance with MMT.

Post World War II New York City was faced with a major heroin epidemic with over 151,000 names listed in the Narcotics Register (Herman). As a medical response, methadone was developed to treat heroin addiction (Herman). Today methadone maintenance treatment has grown to become a popular therapy for drug addiction as well as pain management. Methadone has helped many people to create new lives for themselves, yet there is still debate over the success of this program. Methadone assisted treatment should be seen as an effective program in combating opioid addiction due to its health and social benefits for both users and the community.

Methadone is a synthetic opioid drug which was first used in World War II for the treatment of pain. Since then, methadone has become a popular choice for treating those addicted to other opioid drugs such as heroin, oxycodone, morphine, and hydrocodone. It is used to reduce dependency and the treatment should help them become clean. Even though, the policy of giving methadone to drug addicts is not a cure, it is a good one. Fortunately, the Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) is a reliable way for those with an opioid addiction to stop and not restart the use of opioids. For many, methadone treatment provides an opportunity to regain balance in both lifestyle and priorities. (“Opiate Addiction and Treatment Resource”). Everyone deserves

I would like to thank my friends, Sarah Erwin and Anntasia for helping me review and edit my essay.

The opioid epidemic in America continues to grow at an alarming rate with no end in sight. All narcotics are derived from the opium poppy plant and then manufactured into different forms of drugs such as morphine, heroin, and other pharmaceutical and synthetic opioid drugs sold on the market for pain. Opium derived drugs block and suppress pain by binding to and stimulating the natural receptor sites for endorphins found in the central nervous system of a user’s brain. Patients who are prescribed narcotic drugs can quickly become addicted to the drugs because their body’s will stop producing endorphins and instead

Methadone has been used since the late 1960s to treat heroin addictions. Methadone is a synthetic opioid that is highly addictive and is harder to withdraw from than heroin. Despite 50 years of experience and widespread acceptance by addiction specialists and health agencies, Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) has sometimes been publicly controversial in the U.S. and other countries. MMT is a program in which addicted individuals receive daily doses of methadone as part of a broad, multicomponent treatment plan (Methadone Maintence Treatment, 2002). Critics argue that methadone doesn’t actually help heroin addicts, but just replaces heroin with an equally addictive methadone (Mason, 2013). From my perspective, methadone should not be given to heroin addicts because it does not

During the last seven months whilst working at a men’s shelter (Cornerstone Community Association, in the heart of Oshawa, which some may say is the drug capital of the Durham Region) many of the shelter guests (men who stay in the shelter) have disclosed being on the methadone maintenance program, stating as a result of being addicted to opioid drugs. I have chosen to write about this psychoactive drug because I want to explore, become more knowledgeable and more confident when talking about this complex drug.

It was stated in the presentation that the sample sized used for the study was 175, but of the 175 study participants 44 discontinued treatment 16 in the methadone group and 28 in the buprenorphine group leaving 131 participants, the proper sample size could have been identified on the slides to give the reader a more accurate idea of the sample size used.

Heroin use and overdose related deaths have increased considerably in the United States in recent years (Jones, Logan, Gladden, & Bohm, 2015). The results of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health [NSDUH] (2014), showed in the year 2013, approximately 517,000 Americans abused heroin, which was almost a 150 percent increase since 2007 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2014). According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA] (2014), in the year 2011, 4.2 million people who were twelve years of age or older said they used heroin at least once in their lifetime. Furthermore, data from NSDUH showed approximately 460 people, twelve years of age or older, used heroin each day in 2013 (Lipari and Hughes, 2015). An even more frightening statistic is death rates doubled for people who were twelve years of age or older as a result of heroin overdose in the years 2010 through 2012 (Hedegaard, Chen, and Warner, 2015).