Sometimes known on the streets as “chocolate chip cookies” or “wafers,” methadone is a powerful narcotic that can wreak havoc on its users. Its original use as a pain reliever has made it a popular prescription drug. When a drug is frequently used as a medical treatment, it often hits the streets as well.
Methadone is prescribed today not only as a pain reliever, but also as a treatment for addiction to heroin and other powerful opiates. Methadone itself is an opioid and can lead to addiction of its own. Proper medical supervision is needed to prevent patients from overdosing or going into methadone withdrawal too quickly for their systems to handle.
Heroin provides a good example of how a legitimate prescription drug can lead to drug abuse. In the 1800s, doctors around the world used heroin as a treatment for pain. It was the medicine of choice.
Due to its popularity as a medicine prescribed by doctors, it became widely known for its ability to relieve physical and psychological pain in its users. People started taking it without the attention of doctors. Thus, heroin addiction became a major problem as early as the 19th century.
Addiction is blind to social classes and lifestyles. Many people become addicted due to an original medical reason for taking a drug. When prescription drugs hit the unregulated market, danger follows.
On the streets, methadone and other desirable drugs can be mixed with other substances. Some of these, such as tranquilizers, can overpower a person’s nervous system and lead to coma and death. If methadone is cut with something that has little effect, the user can be precipitated into unexpected withdrawal symptoms. The unknown purity of the street version can lead to a medical crisis
Federal and state laws govern methadone. When prescribed as an analgesic, it is subject to the general rules for all controlled substances. Used as a medicine to help addicts quit heroin and other illegal drugs, stricter laws apply.
Using it on the streets means big trouble with the law for those who get caught. But those just caught up in addiction to it are in a lot of trouble as they are. There are serious health and life risks associated with methadone abuse.
The synthetic opioid was developed in German laboratories in the late 1930s. On the brink of World War II, German government officials ordered scientists to create alternative pain relievers for the opium-based drugs that Germany would be cut off from. during the war. At the time of its creation by the chemical company IG Farben, the synthetic product was called Starch.
Later, after Germany’s defeat in the war, his patents on all prescription drugs were cancelled. The United States offered methadone under the name Dolophine in 1947. Soon everyone was calling it simply “methadone.”
In the early 21st century, methadone was widely used in licensed clinics to help addicts to heroin and other narcotics kick their addictions to illegal drugs. Doctors essentially replace the addict’s other drug with methadone. It comes in various forms, including tablets, discs, oral doses, and liquid for injection.
Its ease of use and immediate availability helped it get out of the clinic and into the hands of distributors. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says government officials have been seizing increasing amounts of items linked to methadone use. Eleven years ago, approximately 2,865 such items underwent analysis in forensic laboratories. Five years ago, 262 percent more, or 10,361 items, had been seized.
Methadone overdose deaths are on the rise. Some of these deaths come from people who combine methadone with other substances such as alcohol. Other deaths occur when addicts prescribed a certain amount take more than is appropriate for their size, age, and addiction status.
Serious side effects and other deaths are simply the result of people seeking a high who take too much methadone. It is a powerful drug and needs supervision of its users to avoid serious complications. His popularity on the streets is a cause for concern in the US.
As people learn more about methadone, they may become more cautious about it. It is extremely useful for those addicts who want to break free from illegal drugs. It becomes a problem when it is treated as a recreational drug or a means of pain relief without the guidance of a doctor.
The glow that methadone imparts can be short-lived compared to its addictive power. Although it is an effective weapon to help people overcome addiction, when methadone is abused it becomes a dangerous substance that does more harm than good. Anyone addicted to methadone can get help from the same clinics that dispense it as a treatment for other drug addiction.