METHADONE CLINICS DO NOT POSE A THREAT TO ANYONE

"Issues of drug use have always been morally tinged by politics and social
conceptions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of addiction, an
area that touches our deepest fears about our ability to manage ourselves,
our children and our society," said Stanton Peele of New York University.

What do German scientists in 1937, Virginia Legislators in 2005 and
Blacksburg and Roanoke all have in common? Answer: polamidon. Polamidon is
a substance that Max Bockmuhl and Gustav Ehrhart at I.G. Farbenindustrie
discovered while searching for an analgesic that would be better in surgery
and have a lower addiction potential than heroin. Polamidon is unrelated to
opiates. Its withdrawal syndrome develops more slowly and is less severe
but more prolonged than that associated with heroin withdrawal. In 1947,
polamidon, now a spoil of war, was given to Eli Lilly who renamed it
dolophine, for the French word Dolor [painful grief] and Fin [end] but you
probably know it by it's other name, methadone.

The Virginia General Assembly feels that methadone is not regulated nearly
enough by the "soft on drugs" Drug Enforcement Administration, so they have
two bills sailing through the legislative process to tighten the noose
around the necks of methadone clinics.

When I asked a legislative staffer if he was planning on tightening
regulations on other medical clinics, he said no and said no one has asked
for such control. This seemed odd to me since medical clinics dispense
hundreds of drugs including what most people in the methadone program were
previously addicted to, such as oxycodone.

Is methadone maintenance a legitimate medical treatment? According to the
National Institutes of Health, "Methadone maintenance is effective in
reducing illicit opiate drug use, in reducing crime, in enhancing social
productivity and in reducing the spread of AIDS and hepatitis." What about
the drug enforcement community? According to the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, "Methadone is very effective in helping
individuals addicted to opiates stabilize their lives and reduce their
illicit drug use."

But don't methadone clinics breed crime? Actually, no. Again, the NIH:
"Over the past two decades, clear and convincing evidence has been
collected from multiple studies showing that effective of opiate dependence
markedly reduces the rates of criminal activity."

Methadone wasn't named after Hitler nor created World War II as Narconon
International's website states. I wasn't able to get the DEA's comment on
their website -- they also list WWII. Their spokesman told me that she
didn't have enough time to find experts to answer my questions before my
deadline. This from an administration with 10,000 agents, most of whom are
drug experts. I haven't been able to find any needle exchanges in Virginia,
let alone in methadone clinics. Claims of open door policies and drugs
dispensed without prescription at clinics are absurd, given new patients
must come daily to the clinic and take their medicine in front of a
treatment specialist. Methadone clinics don't allow patients to take any
medicine home for at least three months, and then they still have to come
every other day and if they don't follow the rules they won't get that much
freedom.

At the heart of this hoopla seems to be core differences over just what
addiction is. Some people, like those in Northwest Roanoke who have spoken
out against the CRC Health Systems clinic proposed there, believe that all
use is abuse; therefore, they see a clinic proposed in their neighborhood
as an attack. To be fair, more affluent neighborhoods easily shot down the
proposal CRC made and the people of Northwest feel cheated and
misrepresented. Newly elected Roanoke City Councilman Lea says it wouldn't
have gotten this far if he was in office when the clinic was first
proposed. Addiction Recovery Systems has proposed a clinic in Blacksburg.

Of course all use isn't abuse and puritanical beliefs like that are the
root of fear and hate. NIH says "Opiate-dependent persons are often
perceived as 'other' or 'different.' Factors such as racism play a large
role here. Many people believe that dependence is self-induced or a failure
of willpower and those efforts to treat it will inevitably fail. Vigorous
and effective leadership is needed to inform the public that dependence is
a medical disorder that can be effectively treated."

If the concept of "all use that doesn't lead to a cure is abuse" were to be
followed to its logical end, diabetics would be denied insulin. It is
against federal law (ADA) to discriminate based upon someone's medical
condition, and if the legislature continues to attack methadone clinics,
they may write a check we Virginia citizens won't want to cover.