A friend of mine has a drug addiction. He’s made some bad choices, and has become a part of something much, much bigger than he is. He very recently accepted the fact that he needed help, so he was refered by his doctor to a methodone clinic here in Halifax. This is a very busy clinic, and when my friend called and spoke to an employee, he was told that there was a 6 month wait just to ‘get in’.
What the fuck?? I can understand how an establishment like this would have a high volume, being one of the only of it’s kind around here, but 6 months?? Someone who wants help getting away from such a terrible addiction doesn’t always have 6 months. Anyone in his situation has very few options:
kick cold turkey – which he’s tried doing several times, and always goes back to the needle after the sickness takes over. (Some people are lucky enough to get through it without any help, mostly depending on the length of thier addictions)
Scour HRM in search of illegally sold methodone, hoping that it actually IS methodone, also risking getting busted buying/carrying it.
Keep using for another 6 months until the clinic has a spot open, falling even further into the habbit, thus making it harder to eventually kick.
I love NS, but this is just another example of how backwards this damn province is. Drugs like this are too easily accessible here, but the treatment programs are just the opposite.
—Concerned friend
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2009.
If it’s possible, take him under your wing. What other options are there for him? Prison?
My aunt works at a medical clinic in the Valley that has a methadone program and some of their patients are coming from as far away as NB and Truro to get their methadone. I have taken the Acadia Lines bus with a few of them.
I have some amount of sympathy for your friend’s situation, but I hope that he realizes that methadone is not without its own risks also. It is not a perfect solution, and I am aware of numerous deaths related to it’s use, particularly if an addict falls off the wagon and uses it with illicit drugs. I won’t get into it in detail, but do some research on your own and you’ll see what I mean.
While I’m not totally in support of methadone programs, I can agree with you in that drug treatment programs in this province are terribly inadequate.
Having put in my two cents, I now await the flood of commentary about how drug addicts should just suck it up and pay for their bad choices, yadda yadda, that LTWWB is known for 🙂
well, you should push for more government funding for such programs, instead of having the federal ministers proclaim that these programs do not work and cut their funding. the people in charge of the programs do not decide to have a 6 months waiting period just for kicks. they have to have the waiting period because they can not afford to take in more patients. its not their fault, its the governments.
At least your friend is trying to get help while he is still alive, it’s unfortunate, but I don’t know what else to say, maybe going into the police to admit he has a drug problem and he needs help will bump him up on the “list”? I would look into that one before doing it, maybe call the RCMP and ask them what would happen, probably nothing though unfortunately. Although it would be awesome if you could “take him under your wing” once the addiction side kicks in and he decides that he wants the drugs, their is nothing you can do besides calling the police. As well, if his addiction is THAT bad then there are medical aspects to consider with something like that too. What about going into a hospital, can they prescribe shit for him? Another factor to take in. unfortunately not a lot of options I can think of, wish there was it really sucks seeing friends go through that and trying to talk them out of it is frustrating as hell. Last time I tried to do that my friend ODed three days later from prescription drugs. I’m not even going to get into the problems that run with prescription drugs either….all I got to say about that is at least, FINALLY they are starting to research the problems with addictions with these drugs. I’m really sorry to hear about your friend, I wish all the best for him and yourself. My only advice would be that as hard as it is, you can’t control what he does, but if he is a close friend, you can control being around him and aiding him when he does decide to do them.
I love how people on LTWWB have sympathy for drug addicts and not for people in wheel chairs.
what?
It’s a similar situation for people with eating disorders. A friend of mine is very, very sick (bulimic, suicidal) and has a 6-month wait for the QEH II clinic.
Man, it’s so reassuring that the help people need is out there when they need it.
Tell your friend if he keeps trying cold turkey the time between relapses will become longer and longer… each kick at the can providing new coping skills that just weren’t there last time. The social circle HAS to disappear for good and forever. Methadone is not a solution, not a cure, not a control, not anything but a legal and manageable way to continue not dealing with the real problem. There’s no shame in day 1. Every day is another chance to do something right for yourself. Tell your friend to find the real reasons he’s using… ask the addict going through detox the first time why they use their drug of choice and you’ll get a “what a party response”… the next time through they’ll say something like “I can’t handle it, gotta escape”. The next time through and you ask them why they keep doing the drug they’ll give you an honest ‘I don’t know’… at that point they start asking the right questions to become well. Don’t give up. Keep trying to quit for the “right” reasons and sobriety will stick. Good luck!
Hah, I remember that Rafiki.
This doesn’t surprise me in the least. Happens in every facet of our “public” system of wonderful health services (both physical and mental/psychological) Case in point: friend of mine had an emergency referral to capital health mental health services after she ended up in the ER (for some pretty scary reasons) and they made her wait 5 months to see a psychologist: on an EMERGENCY referral.
It’s pathetic.
WoW Kay, that was actually some pretty sweet advice..
Good Bitch. Good point
What’s that? Nobody wants to beat up big bad Kay for spewing truth? How fuckin’ rare is that?
I have to agree with Kay. When all is said and done eventually the addict has to stay clean and sober without medical props. The serious symptoms of opiate withdrawal are done with inside two weeks, and if after that the person doesn’t feel like a million bucks, well, hey, a chronic alcoholic who sobers up doesn’t feel so hot for months either.
It’s actually more life-threatening for a chronic alcoholic to quit cold-turkey than it is for a heroin addict, and yet plenty of drunks do just that. Having said that, if you can detox under medical supervision (a week to two weeks) it’s well-advised…it’s a lot easier to stay the course if the nasty symptoms are alleviated. Short-term methadone treatment is one of the methods.
I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen people on methadone. 3 or 6 months after quitting heroin and they are still stoked to the gills…walking zombies. Doesn’t seem like sobriety to me. My personal belief is that methadone use after 1-2 weeks of primary withdrawal is just a crutch. YMMV.
I don’t completely agree with kay on this one….big suprise….
but it is a more controlled response than her usual BS.
The Social circle has nothing to do with it once their addicts.
You can take someone and move them to a completely new city/country/scenario and if it is available, they can find a way to get it. now obviously, if you put them in mongolia on some mountain in the middle of no-where, then they can’t … but otherwise, it’s really with the person and how and why they feel they need it to be a part of their life. Everyone has their own addictions and can relate, just most people’s aren’t illegal or nearly as destructive as the hard drug addicts.
Once addicts come together to get well it’s common for them to pair off given a common goal… sobriety. There’s strength in numbers (why AA works) so it all seems well and fine… at first. We find, in the end, when addicts stick together beyond detox, they tend to sabotage each other gaining convenient validation for their relapse the moment life gets tough. This is why crackheads hang with other crackheads…. validation. If you’re not serious about sobriety, just keep exposing yourself to the same influences and keep living the same lifestyle… in the end you’ll fail because addicts are weak in character until they have some real sobriety and healthy support behind them.
I think you mean “drug addicts” there kay.
I highly doubt you’re not addicted to something… be it coffee, chocolate, shopping, … there is something you don’t need that you don’t want to live without if you think about it long enough.
no zZz, actually, I mean “addicts”. Especially true for gamblers but good try. And I agree, everybody has a vice or 2 or 10… food addiction is about the most popular one around these days er maybe it’s just the most visible?
For the record and for semantics’s sake, I don’t “need” toilet paper given all of God’s greenery out there but I sure don’t want to live without it… doesn’t make me an addict.
It matters WHY we do anything… that’s what addictive behaviors are all about… why.
I love you guise.
Rafiki writes, “I love how people on LTWWB have sympathy for drug addicts and not for people in wheel chairs.”
Let’s not forget those nasty pregnant bitches and rotten old women jay-walkers… we hate them too, right?