But from everything I have heard, methadone provides a way to stabilize both in terms of not chasing a short high all the time, and financially. I always thought it was provided for free, but I don't actually know, having never been in a methadone program.
Depends on where you live and the specific type of program you're on.
For instance here in Australia, you can get methadone broadly speaking trough 3 ways (and I've been on all 3).
1. Public clinic, these are by far the most unpleasant, the people who go to them are arguably some of the worst off in their habits, they have some of the strictest rules about takeaways and drug testing, and have the worst staff.
But they cost nothing. Completely free.
2. You have private clinics, which are like the public ones but generally with much better staff, the cost money, but not much money. I was on one once but not for long.
Both of the above 2, when you get stable, might have you stop going to the clinic but rather get dosed at a regular pharmacy, then you can start getting takeaways, but it costs money, again not much though.
3. And this is what I've been on for years now. You go to a private doctor. The doctor prescribes the methadone through the states treatment program, you get your doses through a pharmacy.
In my case I pay nothing to see the doctor and I pay the pharmacy a dosing fee of roughly 110$ USD A month. So a few dollars a day.
This has, in my experience, by far the fewest rules and the least waiting around.
Different places have different rules though. The US for instance is one of the only western countries where methadone is only provided through a clinic. You can't get dosed at a regular pharmacy.
And in my experience even at their best clinics always have much longer lines than pharmacies. It only takes me about 20 minutes or so to get dosed. That's including everything. Driving there, waiting for my dose, and driving back.
