Medical Heroin Works to Beat Opioid Addiction

[Wizzle]

What bothers me about this article is the whole "helps beat opiate addiction thing".. It's just a replacement therapy that aims at letting you live a relatively normal life while being high on H 24/7. That's why they only give this treatment option to hardcore long-time junkies here in the Netherlands. Basically they only give it when they think you'll never get clean anyway and let you use with the least cost to yourself and society.

I do think it's a good thing but it has nothing to do with getting clean.

 

[Z Y G G Y]

Yeah, I also believe that the title and some of the writing in the article is misleading. Heroin for heroin addicts doesn't beat their addiction. It is still a very good option for the community overall as it lowers crime, cuts the addict's contact with dealers and puts them in a place and position where they can possible be rehabilitated through other means. All of those things are good for everyone. We have to start looking at heroin addiction as something that is a disease which is often just as detrimental to the individual as it is to the overall community. We should just look at the benefits that these kinds of programs would have and there are many more benefits than not. If we had these types of support programs for serious addictions like heroin, meth and crack we at least have a chance to make the addicts productive members of society, whereas if we don't they are just left to continue their habits in the criminal world, continue committing crimes to support their habits and are much more of a negative aspects to the community than if they were give the support they need.

The programs that work the best, be it heroin for heroin addiction are a good thing IMO and will hopefully one day be available everywhere there are problems with addiction. These programs would really do nothing but good things, as without them the addicts would still use but in a much more detrimental way to themselves, their families and the community.

We shouldn't look at these programs as just getting addicts high on their drug of choice. I know its a very hard notion for most people to shrug off. But we should see the addict as part of a community that suffers if no helpful steps are taken. We should think more about what it can do to the overall community as opposed to just the individual addict.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Z Y G G Y]

Is it accurate to say that diacetylmorphine is the active ingredient of heroin? Diacetylmorphine is just the original name for heroin.

Diacetylmorphine (or something like this) is not the original name for heroin, but the chemical name for it. Like if you buy Aleve, the common name is Aleve and the chemical name is Naproxen Sodium. So when heroin was legal the common name they gave for heroin was heroin and the chemical name was diacetylmorhpine due to its chemical structre. Two connected morphine molecules, that why you have the dia and morphine and then the aceyl means that they are connected by an acetyl group.

 

[phr]

It's actually morphine with two acetyl groups.

 

[jungleheart]

I don't know about you guys, but giving me heroin would improve my life dramatically. I have to struggle and force myself to stay clean for the rest of my life because society wants me to? I don't know if I can without committing homicide on myself.

Other people who says I got an addiction problem believe as if there is some kind of model American citizen underneath my 'sickness'. That's just not the case.

 

[graham123]

fuck methadone

Idk, for me methadone was a bunch of bullshit, the withdrawls from it were so much worse than h, if i would have known how bad they were I would have just quit without it. On days I couldent make it to the clinic I would have to do so much to not be sick it was redicules and subs didnt help at all( i tryed them b4 the methadone). What Im trying to say is that I just relly hope they can come out with somthing alot more effective. I think they should tell you at the clinic that methadone withdrawls last longer and are way worse and let the people make an educated decision. Im not saying it dosnt work for everyone just not me. And alot of people i went to the clinic feel the same way. But Im clean now 9 months. I think if ya relly want to quit no matter what you take..will power and the want to really be clean will go alot farther than any medication or quick fix. Ya shitting and pukeing and feeling like you got hit by a big fuckin truck are the worst but loosing your house, kids, wife, job, money and your life are even more fucked up. Stay safe guys you never think it will happen to you, at least I didnt. Try just somking an ass load of chronic,some xanax and some somas and sleep for a week.

 

[DexterMeth]

In the end this is a question of whether you think certain people should have legitimate access to their heroin to make society a better, cleaner and safer place (and most likely more productive), or to just not only let those people die, but all the other people that die (and the crime and disease) as a result of them having to obtain this drug illegally and at an inflated price.

 

[helohihello]

I think when I was about 12 years old I realised Methadone was a scam. I asked my dad why don't they just give them Heroin instead if Methadone is addictive too? He said Methadone is legal. Didn't make any sense to me. That really is the only difference.
Maybe if they could get you off methadone before you get addicted to it, that would work. But afaik they never do, and the withdrawals last wayyyy longer.

For some people, maintaining the habit just to stop withdrawals is the only way. Enough has been said though already, no need for me to say it again. I agree with everyone who can see that the scientific studies support Heroin over Methadone.

 

[O-P-M Dream's]

doesnt add up to me. like alot have said its no better than just doing heroin it self. when i was trying to get clean off of H they gave me methadone and let me tell you i would of been better off just cold turkey off the H .

the cure's worse than the cold !!

 

[mellowfellow420]

LOL WUT?

Lets just give heroin addicts heroin...That will totally stop their addiction...

What about the methjunkies and cokeheads...lets just subsidize everyones drug addictions...that sounds like a fullproof plan because if we give them pharmacutical grade drugs they will obviously not be addicted anymore

 

[pkt]

The idea is almost too simple, subsidize the junkies!

but really the idea of giving addicts a up to 1,000mgs of pharmaceutical grade smack to shoot up three times a day just seems enabling them

you obviously haven't seen what dope has done to many european countries, where im from most junkies have been in rehab 3+ times it will be cheaper and easier for the gov to give them brown on prescirption

 

[helohihello]

LOL WUT?

Lets just give heroin addicts heroin...That will totally stop their addiction...

What about the methjunkies and cokeheads...lets just subsidize everyones drug addictions...that sounds like a fullproof plan because if we give them pharmacutical grade drugs they will obviously not be addicted anymore

YEAH.... sounds good, except for the part where meth and coke give you extreme paranoia and various other health and mental problems when used on a long term basis.

Heroin basically does no damage whatsoever, unless it's cut with other shit. So pharmaceutical grade Heroin takes out all the dangers, and is cheaper than people trying to quit and treating for problems caused by shitty H and fighting that part of the drug war. WAYYYY cheaper.

No ones saying they won't be addicted anymore. Except for the journo's bad choice of words, if you had actually read the article you would know what the study was actually about. Of course most people will end up quitting anyway when they have the balls to do it. But even if all of them kept taking it 3 times a day for the rest of their life, it still works out better for everyone.

Harm minimisation 101. If you don't get that, I don't know why you're on these forums.

Addiction is not harmful by itself, when the drug harms a person, then the addiction is bad. Having pure Heroin removes basically all the harm the Heroin could do. Constipation is the only thing left, which I assume doesn't matter all that much, as long as you can treat it, which you can.

 

[O-P-M Dream's]

do they really need a study for this ...why wouldnt it work ..i mean giving heroin for heroin addition ?

 

[helohihello]

LOL I know, that's what I was saying when I said I figured it out at 12 years old. It's so obvious. But the gov won't admit they were wrong.

Also I hate how scientists have to cover their asses politically.

Notice how they say "methadone still works pretty well and should be the first line of treatment". What is this shit!?
Why would you give something which is LESS effective FIRST? Nowhere else in medicine does this practice take place. The most effective treatments take the place of the less effective ones, and the less effective ones are reserved for people who don't respond to the most effective ones.

 

[funkee]

How about an alcohol transdermal patch?

Yes please.

For everyone who doesn't get it, the idea is to have the patient determine an appropriate time to quit for themselves and detox on their own accord while providing them with a safe place to use, thereby reducing crime, disease and death. Usually being sick and the constant worry about my next fix is what got me to quit. I have a feeling that the patients will try to enjoy the free dope for a long time. But eventually everyone wants to be free, and not tied down to drug and a specific location for a long period of time. I doubt this treatment will be as widespread as say methadone. Then that person willfully enters a detox program using methadone or buprenorphine.

 

[DexterMeth]

You pretty much get it, if not fully. This is a question of cleaning up the streets, cutting down on crime, disease and poverty. FUCK so called maintinance. Anyone that opposes this supports the opposite of what I mentioned, this isn't up for debate... but I suspect there'll be a slew of bullshit replies with their tied talk points. ...1 ...2...3

 

[dtklamf]

In the Netherlands they're already doing this, in Rotterdam you can get your medicinal heroin, it's a small project, but it's a good one. I think that within 5 years they're going to do it with crack too.

 

[Trey]

the problem with bein on a dope run is that you never get there cuz its a constant fight to stay well and stay from gettin locked up and all that.

So you give ppl this and eliminate all that crazyness and they gonna slowly start to recover, its a natural progression...And not only that, but alot of us can never seem to quit becuz its liike, just this one time...jus so i can get high real good one more time. just one last one, but it never works, the dope is bunk,. you couldnt afford enough to get real wasted and you keep chasing.

I know tho , that times that i copped a brick of straight fire to myself, and just could shoot as much fucking dope as i wanted to whenever i wanted, i would wake up the next day and be like DAM......I dont even WANT to shoot up right now! And i would wait a few hours after gettin up , wait until i was actually sick again to get high...And that availibility, the access to good dope all the time, kind of takes away that chase....cuz its there, you CAN have it, and it makes it easier to focus on other shit. You CAN get that "last" good high. and just like anything good, too much of it, you get sick of it. Iunno bout yal, but whenever got access to somethin so great, all the time, and its always available, its right there, its like after a month of a all you can shoot dope buffet, it actually starts to loose its enjoyment.

Even all us ppl who been "hardcore" junkies, the ones who would absolutely destroy a brick in less than a day and a half, we know how it loses its enjoymebt abd yo start to not even want to do it no more after a certain point. it aint even like you get high no more its just somethin you do to stay well and not be sick. you get mad disilusioned with it and just feel like it aint worth ur time no more and iunno, it just aint so great. i feel like if alot of us had a program like this it would actually encourae us to quit. It gives you the opportunity to stabilize ur life and eventaully, u do feel ready. and when you ready, they all right there for you to give you the treatment and help you need to learn to quit and change ur life.

I agree with that a hundred percent, specifically from experience..
i cannot see how this type of program can hurt anyone. this isnt for the dude tryin to get high for the first time thinkin this is cool. this is for the person who has tried atleast twice, honestly tried to get and stay clean, only to find themselves back to the same shit.

ive been using since i was eleven years old(opiates, oxycontin 40s at eleven progressing to morphine sulfate daily and then to dope by 13). struggling for the past five or six, in and out of programs and jails and meetings and sponsors, etc etc.. only to find myself facing another charge and still cannot stop, even prescribed suboxone.. fuck! if i could get in this kind of program, it would be such a huge weight off my back and maybe id be able to focus on some real shit.
damnit, man we need this kind of shit NOW!
there is no doubt in my mind that it will lead to the eventual and appropriate cessation of my heroin use
... /2cents
this isnt about the legalization of heroin or giving away heroin or anything. this will allow the heroin addict to stop all the bullshit that goes along with addiction and get clean when they are ready, forcing sobriety almost always backfires. so, in my mind, it will allow for the curing of opioid addiction.
too bad this type of shit aint gonna happen anytime soon

 

[jspun]

Something Phrozen posted way back

I think the whole point is to allow people to quit on their own terms, all while putting them in contact with the people that can help them along the way. The goal of methadone maintenance, and heroin maintenance, is to reduce the harm caused by an addiction to an illicit drug. And there are countless studies showing that both work, with heroin probably working better than methadone.

Providing it just for detox doesn't make sense from a pharmacological or psychological point of view. Simply put, its half-life is too short and it's too euphoric.


I'm a little surprised by how some people, here out of all places, are against it. I guess this is what needles exchanges, and methadone maintenance, were up against at first.

Qwe, Lacey K, and others make some very good points. The country with the most recent experience with Rx heroin is the swiss. In 1986-1992 they decriminalized drug use in a park, platzspitz, aka needle park. It was a step in the right direction but an eye sore for the tiddy swiss. So they instituted a heroin Rx scheme and it was voted in by initiative...the swiss, always pragmatic, shot down decrim MJ...because of the great resounding success there RX system was undeniably having, the people voted it in as the law of the land. They have safe injection rooms. In Rotterdam, they don't have Rxs I believe, but "house approved dealers."

Heroin Rx in Swisstzerland: A 15 year success story

This is my pet harm reduction post. Tons of stuff- the swiss have had plans of possibly starting Rx cocaine- but i don't know the status- know they have safe crack smoking rooms were you supply your own drugs, as do cities like Frankfurt.

Anyway the results of the swiss experience if anyone has the time to sift through the stuff:

Reduced crime.
after 18 months- a majority of people on the plan reduce there dose significantly (as Lacey pointe out with her anecdote). The chain of waking up sick- hustling money- getting right or punked perpetuates the cycle of dependence.

up to 1/3 choose other forms of treatment- like methadone, bupe, or total abstinece.


Another fact in post # 16 down towards the end of the post (beginning of post 1950s) discussion of heroin MT- as early as 1957 a joint commission of the AMA and American Bar Association recommended a trial heroin maintenance experiment which came as a suprise to me. Its our jobs collectively to get the truth out about the benefits of harm reduction, and evils of drug prohibition.

 

[DexterMeth]

I know this is sort of off topic but Portugal decriminalized heroin a while ago. A BLr on here from there said that dealing it to an accent is even largly accepted.