Heroin Heroin vs fentanyl when starting methadone.
- Thread starter LlZARD99
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2010
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- 7,548
Hey there
What you're describing is one of the most important topics currently facing Opioid users in the United States. Our system, specifrically as it refers to medication-assisted treatment was designed to treat users of Heroin. Fentanyl is more potent and the end product is sold as a mixture that is often 10x more potent than any bag of Heroin would have been 10 years ago. Many users have dependencies of a magnitude that would have been essentially impossible for a Heroin user 10 years ago.
This issue means that folks who try to initiate MAT or go to rehab/detox find that they will not be given enough drugs to actually effect their situation in a positive way. They're pretty much correct. We have a system designed to treat dependencies a fraction of what is actually seen today.
For most Fentanyl users, Buprenorphine is a fantasy and even Methadone induction doesn't happen fast enough. Methadone clinics are overseen by the DEA so there is little discretion available to doctors in regard to protocol. This has led many to give up on the idea of treatment.
It's a huge problem. You can read more about it in the forums, as we're often discussing it in some way or another. Feel free to ask questions!
What you're describing is one of the most important topics currently facing Opioid users in the United States. Our system, specifrically as it refers to medication-assisted treatment was designed to treat users of Heroin. Fentanyl is more potent and the end product is sold as a mixture that is often 10x more potent than any bag of Heroin would have been 10 years ago. Many users have dependencies of a magnitude that would have been essentially impossible for a Heroin user 10 years ago.
This issue means that folks who try to initiate MAT or go to rehab/detox find that they will not be given enough drugs to actually effect their situation in a positive way. They're pretty much correct. We have a system designed to treat dependencies a fraction of what is actually seen today.
For most Fentanyl users, Buprenorphine is a fantasy and even Methadone induction doesn't happen fast enough. Methadone clinics are overseen by the DEA so there is little discretion available to doctors in regard to protocol. This has led many to give up on the idea of treatment.
It's a huge problem. You can read more about it in the forums, as we're often discussing it in some way or another. Feel free to ask questions!