Hey great topic, this is of particular concern in my hometown.
There aren't any rehabilitation centers in our entire region, except for in Ontario which is some ways off.
This means that the meth addicts who have clinically significant brain damage, or are being evaluated for mental illness get stuck in the same psychiatric ward as little old ladies with alzheimer's disease and kids with suicidal ideation.
There are a few problems with this:
a) If they become paranoid or violent, they pose a significant risk to other
patients. Unfortunately meth addicts actually do have a much greater risk
of harming other patients, due to the sympathetic arousal combined with
amphetamine psychosis and paranoid dellusions... Generally thats why
they've been admitted in the first place. Don't take this out of context:
I'm not saying meth addicts are violent, terrible people, but the drug can
cause them to be a risk. I'm sure not all of them are like that once the habit
has caught up to their body.
b) Doctors aren't well equipped to help them. Typically what happens is that
they are put on antipsychotics, sedated for a few days, and then discharged
with literally no treatment, and still addicted.
For some reason people are surprised when they show up again 8)
Personally, I think its a tragedy. People don't roll out of bed in the morning and go "Hey, I'm gonna have some meth, become addicted, and destroy my life!"
There are obvious biological, social and psychological factors which leads people to have a substance abuse disorder. To neglect these and say that someone is just bad or subhuman is simply lazy.
People are complex, yet they act the way they do for a reason. Surprise!!!
Anyways, here are some things which I think need to be solved:
a) Medicines which help with amphetamine withdrawal. I've heard bupropion
has been used to some success, but only at combating comorbid
depression and speeding up recovery.
Why not give daily dispensaries of Vyvanse?
Better yet, why not add capsiacin to the beads so it cannot be snorted?
Seems foolproof to me...
b) There need to be a greater amount of combined drug rehabilitation and
psychiatric wards. Seriously, it just makes sense, and considering the cost
of drug addiction, its not a bad idea. Plus psychiatrists would be able to
commit patients until they were convinced they had kicked their addiction
and stabilized, and treat the mental illnesses that often go hand in hand
or even cause/predispose the addiction.
These wards would focus on all drug addictions, not certain types...
c) The public perception of Meth really needs to change. Yeah, some of them
are at a greater risk of being violent, but seriously, if your brain was so fried
you had to be committed to a psych ward you'd probably want to hit people too. Also, greater awareness should be made for
amphetamine geared rehabilitation programs if they exist. If the addicts
don't know about it then what the fuck are they good for?
I'm not sure what you guys mean when you say doctors are restricted from
prescribing schedule 2 (canada) medications...
From my understanding they can and do prescribe them.
For instance, I have a friend who is on adderall for depression after a few
antidepressants failed for her.
Maybe our doctors don't get ridden as hard as the US ones?
Bah whatever, our doctors can't do anything because our healthcare system is "a socialist piece of crap" and "third world."
Tsk tsk, valuing human life above money... Disgusting. Only rich junkies deserve to live! Yet our debt is what? Still in the billions?
I forget, what was your guys debt again?
(sorry, I've been listening to the radio too much. Could someone tell the US politicians to stop being mean to us? Other countries have free healthcare you can slander too, its not just us... Thanks.)