Prisoners who have beaten their drug dependency while incarcerated are being given substances such as methadone – the highly addictive heroin substitute – before their release, according to reports.
The process, called "retoxification", is allegedly designed to boost the tolerance of former addicts who are deemed likely to start using drugs on their release, to minimise the risk of them taking an overdose.
But critics of the treatment have accused prison doctors, acting under Department of Health guidelines, of "state-sponsored" drug dealing and "giving up on tackling" the problem.
Why should they replace a substance by another one?
ReplyDeleteThis is actually a sound medical practice. For example, patients who leave methadone treatment in the USA are able to get back into treatment for up to two years without actually having to relapse into drug use first. If they feel as though they are going to use they will be put back on a low dose of methadone to control cravings, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, long term abuse of opioids often does permanent damage to the brain chemistry of the user, rendering the brain incapable of producing natural opiates (endorphins) no matter how long they remain abstinent. This results in severe depression, anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure), anxiety, extreme irritability and physical exhaustion. It is truly a miserable existence and one that most people cannot long abide, resulting in repeated relapses to use as they attempt to "self medicate" the condition. Standard anti depressants do not work well as they target serotonin rather than endorphins.
Methadone replaces the missing endorphins without causing a high, allowing the patient to feel normal and to go about their daily activities. It works to rebalance the brain chemistry in much the same way that medications for other mental disorders of the brain chemistry like schizophrenia, bi polar disorder, etc do.
The relapse rate for those who stop methadone treatment is 90%--yet, the success rate for those who STAY in treatment is much higher than with any other treatment--about 65% to 90%. Additionally, those who have been forcibly removed from treatment against their will are quite likely to return to drug misuse upon their release from prison and if their tolerance is down, they may very well die from an unintentional overdose.
For these reasons, this is an excellent and effective option for those who want it.
Maybe it would be best to get the person stabilized on methadone and then detox them over a few weeks of being in jail. Instead of using it as maintenance.
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