Monday, June 23, 2008

THE RATIONAL, AND THE IRRATIONAL:

First the rational, from Ontario, Canada (Peterborough Examiner, 21 June), the headline says it all:
"Methadone clinics like any clinic: city planner; Report rejects restrictions on where they can go." Bravo!

But on the same date from the other side of the world, a Melbourne, Australia, newspaper The Age headline notes, "Methadone too costly for addicts; call for government to help pay fees". In the meantime, as government mulls over what it should do, many patients are turning to the only sources available to pay for their potentially life-and-death treatment: "The cost of methadone programs is driving some recovering heroin addicts to turn to sex work and crime, skip meals, or abandon treatment and relapse into heroin use, a report has found." So much for the claim that opiate dependent people are not motivated to get help! But what a travesty, and how tragic for patients as well as the general community!

2 Comments:

At 5:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes--it drives me INSANE when people say "well you always found a way to get money for your illegal drugs"

The whole point of treatment is so that people don't HAVE to resort to such tragic means to stay well. Would we suggest the same to a schizophrenic or epileptic?

 
At 6:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rational or Irrational is in the eye of the beholder. It is amazing that if someone does not conform to the practice of Methadone substitution with financial backing they are irrational. Even more ludicrous is to compare illnesses such schizophrenia, diabetes, cancer and eplieptic disorders. Just becasue the ADA accepts addiction as a disease it is now aligned with other disorders that are in no way comparable. Treatment is now termed to mean "replacement" and/or "substitution". Then there are the complaints that all this is not convenient for the one seeking their daily dose, I guess this is irrational as well, maybe home delivery would be more comfortable for those suffering such a life threatening disease. So who is rational here the addict getting their daily fix to comfort their cravings or the ones that believe this is NOT the proper method to beat addiction. Replacing one drug for another only benefits the addict and the clinic owners, satisfying both needs, drugs and the profits from such source. Maybe that is what is rational but I am not being influenced by a highly addictive narcotic to sway my rational thinking.

Mothers Against Medical Abuse. Org
Help Stop Rx, Methadone Deaths and Abuse

 

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