Drug Use

According to Pam Belluck (2003), methadone abuse has become an increasing health problem. The original purpose of the drug was to help heroin and opiate addicts to rehabilitate, as well as for pain relief. Many clinics have been founded to use this drug for the purpose of rehabilitation. These were legal, as long as they were licensed by the U.S. Food and Health Administration (Sadovsky, 2000). Methadone has been seen as a worthy candidate for the purpose, as its effects are neither extreme nor immediate, like other recreational drugs. Still, there has been a sharp increase in methadone related deaths. According to Belluck, one of the main reasons for this is the ready availability of the drug. Indeed, some clinics provide the drug to rehabilitation patients on a weekly basis. Addicts often abuse methadone when they cannot obtain their drug of choice, thus creating a secondary addiction problem. The problem now is to find ways in which to maintain the existing benefits of methadone while discouraging its recreational use.

It appears to me that there are many benefits related to the use of methadone, as long as it is licensed. I do not think that removing the drug entirely from legal use is a viable option, because it has so many benefits particularly for drug users. Drug users should continue to receive it, because it goes a long way towards curbing the greater problem created by the primary addiction. I believe that methadone is very useful in terms of helping drug users to rehabilitate. People who make mistakes in their lives should be helped to remedy these in the best way possible, and I believe that methadone is a good tool to accomplish this. The problem is created by making it too readily available. Stricter measures should be in place to curb the use of the drug. Drug users who are treated with methadone should spend the duration of their treatment under continuous supervision, so that they do not see it as an opportunity to abuse or sell the drug. In general, I think that it is vital to continue using methadone, but under stricter rules.

Sources

Belluck, Pam. (2003, Feb 9). Methadone Suddenly Grows as a Killer Drug. New York Times. http://opioids.com/methadone/scarestory.html

Sadovsky, Richard (2000, July 15). Public Health Issue: Methadone Maintenance Therapy. American Family Physician. Database: FindArticles.com