Howard Dean Fought Methadone Treatment For Drug Abusers In Vermont

[KittyWampus]

One would think a Doctor would be aware of the need for methadone treatment for those trying to recover from addiction.

MONTPELIER - Keeping methadone away from Vermont heroin addicts is harming the addicts, their families, and their communities, says a task force report. -snip- Methadone is a narcotic that helps blunt the effects of heroin withdrawal.

"We're doing very little for heroin addicts in this state," said Sen. James Leddy, D-Chittenden, and the lead author of the legislative study committee's report on opiate addiction. "The treatment we offer in this state is at best ineffective and a waste of money." -snip- "The evidence is overwhelming that if we're going to provide treatment for heroin addiction and do not use methadone as part of the program, we're going to fail," he said

Meanwhile, Gov. Howard B. Dean on Monday reiterated his vow never to support methadone treatment, saying it would attract other drug users to Vermont. "It's a magnet of addicts," ... "I am convinced a methadone center will only worsen the problem of heroin addiction in Vermont Dean said."

Without the governor's approval, a bill legalizing methadone treatment for addicts would have little hope of passage. Leddy said Monday he spoke to the governor recently about their different views and had no expectation of changing his mind.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/legislature/leg2000/methadone.html

[mouse7]

1. Methadone SUCKS!

It's toxic. Look it up. As toxic as many forms of chemo.

[mzmolly]

24. That's right Dean believed in other treatment options but eventually

signed into law a controlled methadone treatment plan.

"In May 2000, the state of Vermont finally joined 44 other states and passed a law allowing for methadone maintenance ... Gov. Dean eventually reached a compromise with the Legislature by stipulating that methadone be distributed in a controlled environment and not for take-home use.

[seventhson]

2. I work with methadone addicts

it is no magic bullet.

Treatment is necessary, but methadone IMHO generally sucks and keeps the user and addict to the state.

I tend to agree with Dean on Methadone. I would prefer Dr supervised withdrawal using real opiates.

Remember Methadone was a Rockefeller creation wehich lined their pockets by substituting a cheap legal synthetic opiate that the Rockefeller's sold.

In general, methadone may have a place in treatment. But it is a dangerous drug IMHO and really does NOT resolve the addiction -- it is just a poor and debilitating substitute. Especially as a long term treatment plan - it sucks.

[Maddy McCall]

5. ahhh...but dean wanted opiates to only be administered by pain specialists

and according to Joe Jacobs and others in the medical system, Vermont did not have enough pain specialists to handle the demand for prescription services JUST for the people who needed pain medication, not to mention the added burden of administering opiates to addicts.

[KaraokeKarlton]

35. Bingo

Anyone who has actually known addicts and want to see them actually get help sees the serious problems with methadone treatment. It would be much better to hospitalize a heroin addict to get their system cleaned out under a doctor's supervision. You can't just send an addict home with a week's supply of methadone and expect them to follow usage instructions. It'll be all used up in a couple of hours and the addict will be right back using heroin the next day.

[dorktv]

3. My friends who work with herion addicts would rather

not use methadone.

[Padraig18]

4. "Do, or do not; there is no try"

---Yoda

Either one IS an addict, or one is in recovery; an addict on methadone is STILL an addict. I don't have the link handy ATM, but DOCTOR Dean increased funding for detox programs for addicts, so the article hardly portrays an accurate picture of DOCTOR Dean's stance on treatment for heroin addicts.

[buff2]

7. This is another Dean smear........

My oh my.......what are all the Dean bashers going to do when he gets the nomination? GO DEAN!!! :hi:

[SahaleArm]

8. Yeah by a former medical examiner in Vermont...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=100741

[madrchsod]

6. i friend of mine did nothing but

smoke hash for a week to come off of heroin ,about a half pound of Lebanese. he died later from alcohol abuse

[KaraokeKarlton]

36. I had a friend who used crack to come off heroin

Once she made it through the withdrawl of heroin she used narcotic prescription drugs to wean herself off crack. She's still addicted to pills. In fact, that's why she's not my friend anymore. She stole my teenage daughter's tylenol with codeine for a tailbone injury along with my mother's cancer medication. She needs to be hospitalized and weaned off the pills by medical professionals.

Anyone who thinks handing out drugs to addicts to self medicate themselves is a good idea has never known an addict. That woman's doctor gave her what he considered "just enough" Percocets each month to give her just enough of a dose so she could slowly wean herself off them. She always took all those pills in less than 48 hours. One of these days she's going to OD on them.

[liberalnurse]

9. I would bet that "Rush" is cruising on methadone

this very second......

[liberalnurse]

10. This is a complexed issue....It's best left up to the

medical professionals to determine the necessity and effectiveness of mathadone use.

[stickdog]

11. Wow! Dean is anti-methadone?

There goes the junkie vote!

[hellhathnofury]

15. W're unelectable. :(

[KittyWampus]

16. A Friend Of Mine Had To Deal With That Shit

your flippant attitude is pretty sick.

[stickdog]

21. Yes, methadone is shit, just like junk.

I'm sorry about your friend, but there are better ways to withdraw than getting hooked on orange junk.

[Padraig18]

26. I'm sorry about your friend, but...

...what would have done him/her more good--- getting clean, or getting legal smack?

[KittyWampus]

12. Vermont Saw Rise In Kids Using Heroin & Needing Treatment

From 2001

Separate studies of drug use in Vermont, New Jersey and Colorado this year confirm what a Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse study found last year — that smoking, drinking and drug abuse are all more prevalent among teenagers in rural America than in the major cities, and heroin use is soaring outside of urban areas.

In Vermont, according to the state Department of Health, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds seeking treatment for heroin addiction jumped from 22 in 1997 to 124 in 2000. ...

"Heroin dealers are dealing and marketing to young people," said Gladys Zelman of Maple Leaf Farm, a substance abuse treatment center in Vermont. "There's no question it's here, it's damaging and kids are dying."

The CASA study found that rural communities and small and midsize cities are unprepared to deal with the consequences of the rise in drug abuse.

VanLeeuwen and Zelman both said there is a desperate need for more treatment facilities in their states, and for government to focus more on prevention and treatment than punishment.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/teen_heroin010524.html

[Padraig18]

17. it increased nationwide

Why this patently desperate attempt to lay the troubles of the world at Howard Dean's feet?

[KittyWampus]

29. It's The FACT HE WOULDN'T SUPPORT TREATMENT CENTERS

I posted information and links.

That is WHAT IS POSTED.

Where did I lay the increase on Dean's feet? It's the fact they needed facilities and doctors needed to be able to prescribe methadone if they saw fit

[Padraig18]

31. Quite different from what I asked.

Dean, LIKE THE VAST MAJORITY OF PHYSICIANS, supports detox with counselfing and support, which he DID increase funding for.

[mouse7]

18. cryingshame, what is your medical training

Please explain your training in the medical field and why your statements deserve any more consideration than the average grocer?

[Eloriel]

13. Just another reason I support him

He's the type of guy who likes to FIX problems, not cover them up with some bandaid approach.

You can take his Success by Six program as an outstanding example. He did this after he was forced to raise prison budgets by 16%. He knew, as all who are even remotely aware of the problem know, that almost everyone who ends up in prison was once an abused child. Soooooo, he started a prorgram where all new mothers get a visit in the hospital and offered a visit at home. 90% or so accept. During the home visit, if there are services they need -- job training, parenting skills classes, the like -- they are given access to them.

The result? Child abuse in Vermont is down 43% and child sexual abuse is down 70%. THIS is the kind of response to problems that I have been looking for in a politician literally for DECADES.

Eloriel

[KittyWampus]

19. He also Fought Needle Exchange Programs But Finally Changed His Mind

unfortunately he didn't fund the State Programs... this affects AIDS.

Yeah, but who cares about the ones who've got sucked in.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/specialnews/heroin/story1.shtml

[stickdog]

23. Dean changed his mind on needle exchange because of medical studies.

Do you have a problem with that?

[KittyWampus]

27. He Didn't FUND The Programs.

Too busy balancing the budget.

[Padraig18]

28. proof?

?

[RetroLounge]

14. You keep digging and flinging shit

maybe one will stick someday.

I doubt it...

[yo-yo-ma]

20. dean smear?

It's one thing to smear, another to investigate the record of a candidate, especially of a physician on a medical issue. Methadone both maintenance and taper are well studied in the treatment of opiate addiction. His comment that it serves as a "magnet" for addicts is not only wrong but demonstrates a stereotyped understanding of addiction. Further, to withhold a treatment with known efficacy out of a desire to not attract a certain type of person to the state is taking a somewhat suspect ethical stance.

[Padraig18]

22. There is more than one school of thought on this subject.

the vast majority of physicians, like Doctor Dean, prefer detoxification with counseling and support, as opposed to 'maintenance' programs.

[yo-yo-ma]

30. more a question of access

I don't know about a "vast majority." I am a physician, an OB/Gyn and have worked extensively with addicts - mostly in the context of pregnancy. There are many misconceptions about addiction - especially among doctors. Methadone tapers are much more common mostly because there are so few maintenance programs, and these have long waiting lists. In LA, for example, there are but 2 maintenance programs. As for their comparative efficacy -- in pregnancy at least, taper is not indicated. Social support is always essential, in all aspects of medicine.

[Padraig18]

32. My info comes from a friend who...

... specializes in FP, so I'll not actively contest the point, doctor. Obviously, there are problems in funding better treatment modalities for all chemically-dependent people nationwide. My major objection to the initial post was its decided 'slant', which somehow infers that Dr. Dean is some Mengele-like, heartless monster who has no compassion for heroin addicts, something which is demonstrably untrue, given that he increased funding for integrated detox programs which included counseling and support programs.

I don't think we truly disagree, at base. :)

edit: typos

[mouse7]

33. A physician has the right to make these budget decisions

A regular politician has to defer to experts in these matters. However, Dean is a licensed physician. If Dean has the medical evidence that a particlar method of treatment is more effective, he has the right to make the decision to follow that avenue of therapy as a matter of public policy.

[bitchkitty]

25. You don't know what you're talking about -

giving Methadone to an addict does them no favor, and I should know. Methadone is toxic, HIGHLY addictive, and nearly impossible to kick.

[dsc]

34. This is hardly one sided

Methadone clinics do cause problems. They often atract crime and drugs. Methadone also is no magic bullet. For some it works for others it stinks.

[ozone_man]

37. That is my impression and what I've heard.

In Vermont, the well grounded fear is that allowing Methadone clinics would attract a larger drug culture associated with the clinics. Better to treat the illness clinically then to get them addicted to another drug. Perhaps urban areas would be different. I guess they caved in on that decision finally.

[John_H]

38. Will you please stop bringing up Dean's record?!

It's what he says. Even more importantly, it's the movement.