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Methadone as a Heroin Substitute

Methadone is a synthetic opiate, used to substitute for heroin in many rehabilitation clinics. The man made drug emulates the effects of a heroin high and negates the harsh withdrawal symptoms, thus weaning the addict off of the more harmful heroin and on to the cleaner, safer and more regulated methadone.

Methadone was created in Germany in 1937, and by 1947 it had been introduced to the USA, where it was manufactured and marketed for medicinal purposes, soon being taken on as the method of choice for helping heroin addicts off their problem. Over the decades, methadone has polarised opinion in the scientific and medical community - there is no doubt in anyone's mind that the drug can help alleviate withdrawal symptoms for a heroin addict, but the problems arise from a different area, in that the user weaned on to methadone can form a new addiction to the substance, simply replacing one addiction with another. While it is accepted that a controlled, less harmful, synthetic drug is better for an addict than an unlegislated, illegal narcotic, there are moral implications to simply helping a person form a new habit, for which - a lot of the time - they have to pay for out of their own pocket, picking up regular methadone packages from specialist clinics.

Another point of contention for methadone comes with the so called 'less harsh' withdrawal symptoms - while it is true that regular methadone users do experience less severe withdrawal symptoms to those experienced by heroin addicts, the length of these symptoms sometimes proves counterproductive, sometimes lasting a week or two before they disappear. This is compared to the symptoms of heroin withdrawal, which last a much shorter amount of time. The time factor has been known to push ex heroin users weaned on to methadone back to the more harmful street drug, as they simply cannot handle feeling bad for such a long period of time.

All in all though, methadone is a positive step for heroin addicts, giving them a real chance to get themselves off heroin and into a cleaner, safer, more controlled world. Even if it doesn’t stop addiction, it certainly helps a user reintegrate themselves back into the 'real' world.