Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Methadone, hon!

Hampden to get new methadone clinic.
Posted by at

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Leave it to Baltimore to destroy something good. Say good bye to Hampden property values and hello to junkies in Roosevelt Park.

Wed Feb 03, 03:41:00 PM EST
Maurice Bradbury said...

as a former resident, I assure you, the junkies are already there.

Wed Feb 03, 03:44:00 PM EST
ppatin said...

I wish they'd have the sense to put methadone clinics in neighborhoods that already suck.

Wed Feb 03, 04:02:00 PM EST
Cham said...

Methadone clinics have the same problems as homeless shelters.

There is a methadone clinic in East Baltimore. The place looks clean and well run from the outside, and I don't doubt for a minute that it is a decent facility. However, on the day I walked by it there was a very creepy man on his knees outside the place banging on the door and screaming for them to let him in. I guess when you run out of money and things to trade methadone looks pretty good. These places attract an element that most neighborhoods don't want to see.

Hampden (and many other neighborhoods) needs to start thinking like Roland Park, Fed Hill and Locust Point: That when someone comes up with one of these stupid ideas all hell breaks loose.

Wed Feb 03, 04:18:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...

we need one there. why should everybody have to go to bad areas to get treatment.? I heard it will be run very well anyway.

Thu Feb 04, 08:55:00 AM EST
ppatin said...

Because people in good areas don't want even more junkies ruining their neighborhood. They're a bunch of heroin addicts, who gives a shit if we're sending them off to a bad neighborhood.

Thu Feb 04, 09:11:00 AM EST
Cham said...

Why put one there? I'll give you a couple of reasons why NOT to put one in Hampden.

First, once you become a heroin addict your social status gets downgraded. The good neighborhoods aren't going to welcome you with open arms. Methadone isn't a cure, it's a substitute. You are still hooked, you are still an addict. You might have a job, you might have a home and you might have friends, but you are still using drugs. Legal or illegal you are still a problem.

Second, if you spread all the crappy things that go along with crappy people; prisons, homeless shelters, methadone clinics, across all the neighborhoods then all the neighborhoods suffer. All the neighborhoods have to deal with crappy people, an increase in crime, an increase in bad behavior and an increase in noise. There is a 100% chance the city takes a nose dive. If a city chooses to sacrifice a few areas which will play host to service centers that cater to crappy people you can save some neighborhoods, attract taxpayers to some areas, nourish a population that cares, and have some decent places to live. Nobody grasped this concept better than our outgoing mayor. She got it, I hope Mayor Rawlings-Blake gets it too.

I wouldn't say Hampden is struggling any more, but it certainly isn't firmly rooted with solid citizens quite yet, and I'd hate to see it take a turn for the worse with a few of these types of stupid ideas, and clinic owners with a get-rich-quick scheme. (I wonder where the methadone clinic owner resides).

Some neighborhoods are in such bad shape they'd welcome a methadone clinic. The clinics need to find those places and set up shop there.

Thu Feb 04, 09:38:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...

There may already be junkies in Hampden, but a new clinic will certainly attract more to the area. More pan handlers, the bus routes will suffer due to increased traffic and businesses will suffer because people do not want to be faced with this city's terrible problems every single time they want to go somewhere to get away from their own problems.

Thu Feb 04, 10:17:00 AM EST
DMC DAVID said...

TO those who want to know the facts...
My name is David and I am on methadone, I also have my addiction counselor 1,2, and 3 licence!! I feel that the methadone is a great tool that can be used in combination with intensive outpatient thearpy. When it comes down to addiction in general it is a very important that we the people of balt know the facts: First only 1 out of 4 addicts will remain clean for more than a year after short term detox, and guess what you and I as tax payers just paid for 3 persons 3 dayx500-1000 dollor per day detox that is a failure in disguise. I would rather have a methadone program open in my area, than have the persons that need to be on a program commiting crime to get there fix. I feel that there should be more guidelines that will keep the addict clean and sobor but the inportant thing is RECOVERY!!! If left up to myself I would do away with the methadone programs period, but I would keep the methadone. WHEN WILL THE PEOPLE AT THE TOP SEE THAT IF WE COULD JUST GO TO OUR DOCTORS AND GET OUR MEDICATION IN A OFFICE SETTING IT WOULD STOP THE INTERACTON BETWEEN TOXIC PEOPLE, HEY IT WORKS WELL WITH SUBOXONE/BUPRENORPHINE.Get your perscription from your doc, go to meetings and groups, random urinalysis. If not in complience with the rules that the doctor and other certified drug counselors than a 28 day admin detox will be put in place.. when you think of a person on methadone and have a mental image of that person, you are so wrong..you would not know unless I told you.. 180,000 heroin addicts in baltimore, lets lift one another,and look past defects of character..

Sun Jun 27, 09:47:00 AM EDT
iv1 said...

Burprenorphine is a superior treatment for opiate addiction that can be prescribed. We could get rid of all these horrible clinics in about two weeks if we ramped up buprenorphin. Too bad doling out methadone is a big business in the city. Check the science, methadone could and should be gotten rid of.

Sun Jun 27, 08:34:00 PM EDT
Kerry said...

Iv1 you are wrong on that. Methadone is, in fact, the most successful treatment available for opioid addicted individuals. Buprenorphine, while a great tool, is not effective for many long term opioid users due to it's ceiling effect. The average dose of methadone required by a patient at a methadone clinic to control symptoms is 80-120mgs, and science shows us that anyone needing over about 60mgs of methadone is unlikely to do well on buprenorphine. Bupe is targeted at those with relatively small, short term Rx opioid addictions, whereas methadone is appropriate for those with longer term or heavier Rx opioid or heroin addictions. They are NOT interchangeable.

As for those who imagine methadone patients to be jobless, homeless "pan handlers" out to rob, pillage and plunder--you are wrong. In fact, over 75% of today's MMT patients are there for Rx pill addiction, NOT IV heroin, and they come from ALL walks of life. Take me, for example--I am 46 years old, a married mom of 3 with a college degree. I own my own home, have a full time, white collar job, and live in the suburbs. I pay all my own bills including my clinic fees, and donate to charity. I volunteer at my children's schools, and at church. I do advocacy work in my spare time for other MMT patients and in doing so I have come to learn a great deal about methadone and how it works, and how opioid addiction causes permanent changes in the brain chemistry of the user, often necessitating life long medication to restore a more normal balance to the brain chemistry.

Methadone does NOT cause a high or euphoria in stable patients. Patients at the clinic are there because they want to get WELL, not because they are looking to get high. Methadone clinics unequivocally DECREASE crime in neighborhoods where they locate, and do NOT affect property values, contrary to popular belief.

Recently a reporter went and stood in front of a large methadone clinic in New York, which had been in operation for 40 years, and asked passersby if they lived in the area. If they said yes, she then asked them if they knew if there was a methadone clinic around there anywhere. Over and over and over again, they said "no", even though the clinic door was directly in front of them. THIS is what generally happens when clinics open. People expect unimaginable horrors and are shocked when they do not occur.

I know of patients at my own clinic that are lawyers, nurses, business owners, soccer moms, college students, lab technicians, real estate agents--just regular people that you see everyday and never realize might have an addiction problem. They are all over the place--they are already here--and they need help. Abstinence based rehabs do NOT WORK for long term opioid addiction. MMT does. It restores people to a productive, responsible, law abiding life.

Mon Jun 28, 01:11:00 AM EDT
Unknown said...

David,

Good post. I'd like to talk to you for my series in City Paper.

eericson@citypaper.com

Mon Jun 28, 08:45:00 AM EDT
Danila said...

Is this the same Baltimore that is supposedly liberal? Sounds like a lot of people here are under the impression heroin addiction is a criminal and moral problem above and beyond anything else. Shame on you!

It is important for people who want treatment to get treatment. If there is going to be another option for those suffering with this horrible addiction to get a little relief, then that's a great thing.

I've been on the Buprenorphine program for over a year now and it saved my life. If you demonized me and sent me off to some horrible neighborhood flooded with drugs with my daily $20 for methadone treatment, I would've gotten high. I am glad I was able to go into a doctor's office, was treated with respect, and was given the chance to get my life back in order.

Wed Jun 30, 09:55:00 PM EDT
Unknown said...

To David,

So you're an addiction counselor and you're on methadone? How effective is it really then as a tool for recovery? Why don't you get off the methadone? Maybe because the withdrawals are actually twice as severe as heroin or morphine. I've been clean for 8 years, and I did it the way people who really want to get clean do it, in rehab. The ability to treat opiate addiction on an outpatient basis is highly suspect, ...almost ludicrous. Treating opiate addiction with opiates is nonsensical.

Nathan

Wed Dec 08, 10:15:00 AM EST
DMC DAVID said...

"Know the facts from someone who has and is on both sides of the desk, and IM ON HAMPDEN HEALTH AT THE RAIL" First and for most, knowing all information before making a complete fool of your self is always best. I am a 29 y/o male who has been on and off methadone for about 11 years more on then off. Yeah I know your thinking wow, BUT I work full time and I am also a full time student, I ride the express bus with you, I eat lunch with you, we share the same likes and look forward to our daily talks over coffee. Guess what I pay bills, go shopping, read books, cook, and take pride in my community. I cant think of a better place to have a substance abuse medical center, Keep in mind("HAMPDEN HAD ALL OF THESE PEOPLE THAT REPORT FOR MEDS AND COUNSELING, YOU JUST SEE THE ONES THAT WANT HELP PUSHED INTO ONE PLACE,DRIVE DOWN ANY STREET IN HAMPDEN AND TELL ME YOU DO NOT SEE AT LEAST 3 HEROIN ADDICTS SELLING THERE BODYS, OR STEELING OUT OF 711)MAYBE WE NEED TO FIGHT TO OPEN MORE CLINICS TO GET OUR FAMILY MEMBERS OFF THE STREET AND BACK INTO OUR LIVES!!! I wish I could get pluged in with more people who see the good and are willing to put in the time to make changes while keeping in mind the cares and concerns of all involved.

Mon Feb 21, 09:50:00 AM EST
Kasey said...

"ppatin said...
Because people in good areas don't want even more junkies ruining their neighborhood. They're a bunch of heroin addicts, who gives a shit if we're sending them off to a bad neighborhood." And I say...Wow! I can not believe you would make such a rude, selfish comment! Not everyone who is on Methadne is a homeless junkie/panhandler. Wow I hate to say this, but you obviously have had noone whom you love or care about suffer from an addiction problem. If you did you would have never of made these ludacris statements. What if your daughter or son had an addiction problem, would you say who cares then? NO! I can not believe how incredibly shallow, selfish and judgemental people can be. I have been on methadone for 3 years and it has SAVED MY LIFE! I have a son, husband and a house. A dog and fish just like everyone else.No I am not on Food stamps, I pay taxes. I am currently a patient care technician 2/CNA in a hospital setting who takes care of your friends and family in their time of need and I do my job very well. I am on my way to my associates degree in Science and heading into the RN program at my college. I was never on Heroin, just narcotic pills. THAT WERE PRESCRIBED TO ME BY A DOCTOR! Had I knew I would get so addicted I would have never touched them, but as the saying goes, you can't change the past only look to the future. I can not stand seeing comments like this,people like this are what's wrong with the world today, not methadone patients. Addiction is a disease, just like any other diseases such as cancer, somethimes it can be "cured", symptoms can be relieved or just treated and maintained. Get the facts before you judge all people. I may be the nurse taking care of you one day and you would never know!

Thu Aug 30, 10:35:00 AM EDT

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)