Just replacing one drug for another. We need real funding for real mental health care. Addicts need more than just replacement addictions.

1) You're much more likely to get it Legally, from a doctor. That means it costs WAY less than a dope habit. Even if not done thru insurance.
2) You don't go into bad withdrawals til like day 3 w/o the meds instead of like 12 hours
3) You're a lot more lucid on it, because it really doesn't get you 'high' it just keeps you from getting dopesick
4) It's almost impossible to OD and die from bupe, and taking more than is needed doesn't get you high it actually feels like shit.
5) It strongly blocks the ability of other 'fun' opioids to get you high
6) It's much less uncomfortable to wean off of then strong mu agonists like heroin & oxy and esp. the alternative Methadone
7) Only have to dose once a day

Basically it helps a hell of a lot of people get back their lives ... very tough to hold down a job when you're having to find 'the man' and score ... constantly ... otherwise you're sick with what feels like the worst flu you've ever had X 1000.

Is it 'optimal'? No. Is it WAAAAAY the fuck better? YES.

Opioids re-wire the brains chemistry, man ... a hell of a lot of people ARE NEVER going to maintain sobriety after becoming opioid addicts. They're going to die ... using. Period. That doesn't mean they must die FROM using, though.

I believe it saved my daughter’s life.

I spent $20 per day going to a methadone clinic for 8 years for a pain pill addiction.

I've never done heroin yet I was admitted for pain pill addiction. I lost 8 years and thousands of dollars while administrators proclaimed this treatment was what I needed to continue...

I finally quit methadone and haven't looked back...jus wish I never started it!

Last edited Sat Jun 23, 2018, 03:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Buprenorphine, no doubt, still has a fairly nasty final withdrawal, but it's actually pretty easy to titrate to a low dose in a fairly short period, and the less you're on when you quit, the less acute the w/d, obviously.

Imagine cutting your methadone in half overnight ... going from 80mg to 40mg, say? How bad would that feel? Pretty sure you know how much that would suck.

With bupe you can go from 8mg (probably roughly = to 80mg methadone) to 4mg overnight, even after a long time at 8mg ... and barely notice it. Then, next month, overnight ... go from 4mg to 2mg and barely notice it. Next month, overnight, 2mg to 1mg ... and barely notice it. Etc.

Basically it's not until you get down to about 1mg (about 10mg methadone) that you'd maybe struggle to 1/2 your dose every month. Might have to go to a 1/3 reduction, so 1mg to .66 rather than .5 if you want to be comfortable.

But honestly, just quitting at 1mg is not THAT horrible. I mean, it's better to be at .25mg or less, but ... 'you'll live', kicking from 1mg.

Bupe is a different ballgame from methadone, it really is. Still an addiction, still a bitch to totally quit, ESP if you've not titrated (just like methadone). But it's not as nasty of w/d's and it's much easier to titrate. Trust me

Also, important point ... docs can give you 28 days worth at a time, legally. I'd guess they're unlikely to do so until they 'trust you' and probably make some people come back much more often under some circumstances, but they CAN do that. You don't have to go to some 'clinic' daily and wait in line with a buncha jonesing, sketchy junkies ... I can only imagine how much that HAS to suck, esp for 'only' a pain pill addict

But honestly, aside from the shooting up part, the distinction between pain pills and heroin is mostly 'academic' and class-based. PLENTY of people on methadone (or bupe) never did heroin. Aside from bupe which is honestly a different breed, opioids are opioids.

Put it this way, I fully believe that NOBODY NEW should be starting on methadone in this day and age. It should be bupe for new patients, period. Switching from methadone to bupe, however ... is not an easy proposition. A lot of people fail, put it like that.

They were going to take my granddaughter just because she was premature and my daughter tested positive for marijuana. They ended up giving custody temporarily to my daughter's aunt that she was living with at the time. My daughter wasn't supposed to be alone with the baby until she passed numerous drug tests andthey decided she was fit to be a mother.

Distributors to the FDA.

To people who aren't industry lobbyists.

The head of every single Federal regulatory organization today is either a former regulatory offender or a lobbyist for their industry. They are doing a fantastic job of dismantling all regulation. That's why they are there.

Keep in mind that this is an administration whose Secretary of Energy campaigned for President on the promise that he would eliminate the Department of Energy, the Department he now heads.

Protections are needed and are rapidly disappearing
.

and easy to score?

Do I win?