Walking through the streets of East Hastings is a shocking scene. The sights of addiction and drug use is prevalent on any street corner or block. Recently posters have been put up on every street corner warning citizens of an increased concentration in a dosage of Methadone. This sparked an interest to investigate what this drug does and why does it matter.
Posters on street corners of East Hastings. Photo Credit: BC Harm Reduction Strategies and Services.
Methadone is a drug used for treatments of opioid addictions such as heroin and morphine. It works by blocking receptors in the brain that narcotics bind to therefore preventing them from binding and that “high” sensation lost. It should be noted that Methadone does not treat non-opioid addictions such as methamphetamine and alcohol addictions which are present around Downtown Eastside. Methadone is an effective drug in temporarily shifting a patients addiction away from more dangerous drugs and promotes time for rehabilitation.
Methadone in it’s pill form, also comes in liquid form. Photo Credit: WebMD.
Unfortunately, although Methadone is used clinically for treatment of addiction it does have its own side effects. A more important side effect after all the common side effects is its tendency of addiction. Methadone on its own is a very addictive drug that proves to be equally addictive as what it is trying to cure although it does not have as detrimental negative effects. Another problem with Methadone is that it is not a cure rather a substitute for opioid drugs, a person who stops having access to Methadone will potentially return back to the drugs that they were trying to overcome.
The news about a new form of Methadone is a drug called Methadose, which in fact is 10 times stronger than the previous opioid prevention drug. This causes increase risk of overdose in the drug using community and puts a great strain on users.
So the big question is, is Methadone an appropriate solution to opioid addiction. Although Methadone is not a fix to the problem, it is a solution for patients to be able to have a functional life. With daily dosage of Methadone, it acts as the same dependency as any opioid drug but without life threatening negative effects.
However, this should not be the complete solution, fixing the problem on East Hastings requires institutional assistance. Methadone is designed for a rehabilitation process, currently it is available as an over the counter solution to addiction which is a financial strain especially on recovering addicts.
For more information on Methadone and its use for rehabilitation, watch:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwOKE1W53L4[/youtube]
-Guan Qun Zhao
