Off heroin, now on Subutex. Am I clean?

[NullAndVoid]

I'm a week on Subutex and a week off of heroin. Over the last six or more years I've been on and off opioids of various sorts. After being put on to Subutex I initially felt like I was still stuck in a place of addiction with a long withdrawal to go through if I was to stop. A week in and it occurs to me, with Subutex I'm not going to use heroin again, I do not need it. If I was to stop taking Subutex there is no doubt that I would find it very hard to start using something again. Perhaps I am now in the best place for me, but I'm wondering, would you consider people who stop using illegal substances and stick to a prescribed opiate substitute therapy clean?

 

[szuko000]

It depends on your personal definition of "clean." I find that most people who have had a true addiction to illicit opiates consider the legal replacement drugs to be clean. Those who have never had an addiction are more likely to consider being on methadone or suboxone to be still using. Also being clean is a state of mind in a sense too. I think you are not truly clean when you are on a program until you consider your relapse risk to be almost 0, even if it means being on the replacement drugs forever. By relapse I mean fall into the behavior you are trying to avoid. So if you are one of the types who thinks they will most likely be on suboxone or methadone forever your goals are different from mine so as long as you are doing well avoiding whatever you are trying to then you are not "using" and are thus "clean"

I guess what I am trying to say is everyone is different. You shouldnt allow other peoples definition of "clean" impact your personal definition. Its a lot like happiness, what some people derive happiness from or what situations make them happy is completely dependent on them. Only when you try to tell other people that your definition is the only one true and right one do you encounter problems. So the only person who can answer that question is you.