HEROIN ADDICTION: Quitting Before It Kills
I lost my brother to a heroin overdose on March 6, 2014. I had no idea he used heroin. This investigation is everything I wish I knew before that day:
What heroin does once inside the human body, what happens in an overdose, why some people are more likely to become addicted than others, and the methods used to get clean.
Quick Guide to Current Heroin Addiction Treatments:
TYPES OF TREATMENT
METHADONE – It’s an opioid that, like Heroin, will bind to the same brain receptors that trigger the drug cravings. It is used to help stop the cravings and ease the withdraw symptoms.
The methadone clinic American Health Services on South Union Street has a doctor on staff who will prescribe methadone. The methadone is given to a patient only once a day and the patient must sit through a counseling session to discuss the emotional dependency he or she has to using heroin or other opiates.
“Methadone itself is a blocker,” said American Health Services manager Oshia Hale.
“It blocks the urges and cravings from using any opiates, which is codeine, morphine, it helps to block those urges where you won’t have the will to want to use any more.”
Methadone is prescribed to slowly reduce dependency on heroin or other opiates. The dosage will gradually decrease.
Methadone is criticized as also being addictive, but Hale said some people can’t quit using drugs that easily and calls Methadone a safe alternative to illegal street drugs.
“Some people aren’t strong enough to do that,” said Hale.
“Mainly if you’ve been using for 20, 25 years, how would you just quit cold turkey?”
SUBOXONE – Suboxone is also a narcotic, but an opioid antagonist – a receptor blocker. Suboxone blocks the ability to get high from other opioids. Users say they don’t get any high from taking Suboxone.
It is also prescribed by a doctor and comes in a pill or film form and placed under the tongue. It also is designed to reduce dependency and the dosage goes down gradually.
NALTREXONE – Naltrexone is fairly new. It is not a narcotic, it’s an opioid receptor antagonist. Naltrexone will blocks the brain’s receptors and makes it impossible for a drug user to get high on any opiate, stopping the opiate’s euphoric effect.
It is used mostly for treating alcohol dependency and doesn’t stop opiate cravings.
IBOGAINE – Ibogaine is not legal in the United States and its effectiveness has not been widely studied. It comes from the Iboga plant and used in African spiritual practice.
Ibogaine is a psychoactive substance. After a single dose, the user will spend 15-72 hours hallucinating.
There are clinics in Mexico and Costa Rica for a single-dose of Ibogaine to end opiate addiction. Proponents say the user will confront their internal fears and demons and after the hallucination, will no longer have a chemical dependency on opiates.