DrugBuyers.Com: Opiates and Weight Gain

You're correct; my assumption is that many of those undergoing methadone treatment are doing so resulting from illicit drug use, regardless of type, and the conclusions I've reached upon having examined studies throughout the past several years conducted or analyzed by the WHO (World Health Organization), NIDA (National Insititute on Drug Abuse), and my own participation in a variety professional conferences and activities of which opiate addiction and treatment methods were a part. Calling patients heroin junkies or pill freaks serves no purpose, and I would never even imply that this was the case. It is simply (and infinitely complexly) a disease of different origin.

I based my assumption and opinion that most who are in methadone treatment do so as a result of wanting to stop drug use, not for the treatment of pain, for which they would be participating in a different sort of therapy altogether, which may very well include the prescribed use of methadone. Because those with chronic pain continue to take prescribed medication as part of their therapy, there is an inherently lower probability of a chronic pain patient seeking to maintain or withdraw via conventional methadone maintenance treatments.

Also, because the actual rate of addiction among chronic pain sufferers is surprisingly low, with physical dependence being another issue entirely, the number of chronic or intractible pain patients opting for methadone maintenance therapy over physician-assisted self-tapering would tend to limit itself.

If my response was in any way construed as a judgement or aspersion upon those who may be seeking treatment for any reason, I absolutely did not intend it to be. My mind never even considred that point of view. Nor did I intend it to be a broad brush painted across all who may be participating in methadone maintenance, and I was careful to include qualifiers such as "many", and "tend", and "I suspect". I intended it to be an observation of the social manifestations that often accompany addiction, nothing more.

I congratulate every methadone maintenance patient for having had the courage to pursue it, regardless of their medical or personal circumstance. I clearly don't support illicit drug use, but not at the expense of the one overriding priority I try to express, which is individual empowerment with the goal of each person having access to the best best possible individual healthcare options.