Nubain is most effective for those who are "low on the ladder" and have never developed opiate dependence. It can be quite effective if someone does not use PKs every day and they're mostly weak ones like Darvon and codeine. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who has become dependent on anything as strong as hydrocodone. When the FDA tests for abuse potential, they use a panel of experienced opiate users and if they mostly say that the stuff is no good, it can come out as unscheduled. Since Nubain is either a partial mu agonist or a mixed agonist/antagonist, it can give a dependent person mild or severe WDs, depending on the level of their opiate dependence. Stadol would probably be only a slight improvement for those people.