AUGUSTA, Maine — Drug-addicted Medicaid patients would lose coverage for methadone treatment after two years under a bill green-lighted Monday by a legislative committee.
The bill, LD 1840, limits reimbursement for methadone for opiate addiction to 24 months unless the provider gets approval for longer treatment ahead of time from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The legislation mirrors a similar cutoff placed on Suboxone, another common replacement drug for opiate addicts in treatment, that was approved as part of the last supplemental budget.
The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee spent several hours weighing the needs of Medicaid patients trying to get clean against the state’s stewardship of taxpayer-funded health insurance.
MaineCare, the state’s version of the federal Medicaid program, covers roughly three-quarters of all methadone patients in the state, or about 3,500 people.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. David Burns of Whiting, acknowledged he didn’t have a scientific basis for the two-year cap, but said it seemed reasonable and was in line with the time limit on Suboxone.
“I’m a layperson, I’m not a physician, but it would seem to me after two years of treatment there ought to be enough treatment information there to know if you need to continue, and if so, why shouldn’t that be documented?” he said. “Especially where it’s being covered under MaineCare Services.”
Rep. Linda Sanborn, a Gorham Democrat and retired physician, said the two-year limit fails to recognize that opiate addiction is a disease requiring long-term treatment.
“We’re not looking at setting a length of time on giving people insulin for their diabetes, and we shouldn’t be looking at setting an arbitrary time to treat with methadone,” she said. “It is only because of the stigma that revolves around drug addiction that we’re having this discussion. It has nothing to do with science.”
Recovering addicts take regular doses of methadone to curb cravings as they go through therapy. The dosing and length of treatment varies widely, depending on the individual, and can go on for years.
Heroin addicts generally respond better to methadone, while Suboxone often works better for people addicted to prescription opiates such as OxyContin, said Dr. Kevin Flanigan, medical director of MaineCare Services.
The committee didn’t discuss how much money the state could save by limiting MaineCare reimbursements for methadone treatment. The two-year cap on Suboxone is projected to save about $600,000 in the next fiscal year.
The cap on methadone would not apply to patients using the drug to treat chronic pain.
Dr. Joseph Py, corporate medical director for Discovery House, which runs methadone clinics in Maine and several other states, said the longer patients are in treatment, the better they do.
“I would love to have people drug-free forever after X amount of time,” he said. “What we know about opiates, since people have been using them… is that has not been the case, time and time again.”
The committee voted 8-2 in favor of the methadone bill, which now goes to the full Legislature for a vote. Additional language about MaineCare reimbursement for transportation to methadone clinics, which is included in a separate bill, was removed.
One drug for another… pick your poisin… aint that a ________(fill in the blank).
A Dramatic Story “NOVEL CONCEPT”
“I have an idea to combat opiod dependence.” What is it? A man made opiod. It’s cheaper and more accessible, and it comes at minimal cost to the dependent. “Awesome, lets do it.”
(Society Collapses due to stupidity)
I’m curious, does anyone know the dollar amount charged to MaineCare for 1 year of methadone or suboxone treatment ?
It is not set like that,
Drug Cost – $10 per dose. Daily dose. 365 days per year. 2 Years. = $7,300
Admin Cost – $15 per visit charged to government. = $10,950
Total Cost = $18,250 for two years.
Don’t forget the mileage that they pay to every addict in Washington County. They all pile into cars and drive as long a distance as possible to get their methadone. Each of them gets mileage even though they travel 4-6 to a car. And they go to the furthest place possible to maximize their reimbursement.
and at least one instance of cab fare from Eastport.
Evidence, please.
It’s a comment blog not a courtroom, don’t need it. But if you know any addicts at all they will tell you that happens everyday.
An opinion not based on any evidence is worth nothing. If you want to be taken seriously, demonstrate your point.
“Obviously you don’t know what it means to be addicted to something. It isn’t like liking pizza and choosing to buy pizza every night. There are complex connections being made in the brain that drive physiological responses. There is no “on/off” switch when it comes to addiction.”
Evidence please.
Ryan, You want evidence? Go sit at Lennies in Medway from 6-8am every morning. (By the looks of your comments, your probably the one driving the van). They all drive their cars there, Park them, And pile in the van. I remember when people used to park there and get in company trucks an go to work…Boy have the times changed.
Well HIPPA doesn’t make it easy to broadcast what you call evidence for all but those on the inside see the address of the junkies, then see them all pile into a car,and head out. Plus, most of those junkies talk to one another, get busted for something and become a confidential informant (to you a RAT) and spill everything. Plus, arrests have been made on the subject of mileage and more arrests are in the pipeline, I’m willing to bet.
Believe what you want, I really don’t care.
No opinion necesary> The current law should provide evidence to support memoderates claim
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_125th/billtexts/HP124601.asp
2 years heck thats about 18 months too long
I bet the existing junkies get grandfathered under this legislation.
I bet it doesn’t even pass. Limits should also be imposed on painkillers over-prescribed that create this problem in the first place.
Let’s use science instead of hate to make our decisions.
and I bet it will pass, as it’s already happened to Suboxone
Limits are being applied to narcotics/pain killers..If passed there’s a 45 day limit as to the payment for narcotics..so any prescriptions needed after 45 days or if you need them for a longer period..Maine Care will only cover them for 45 days…AND..Maine Care will continue to pay for folks who get Methadone for pain..so let’s debate that! Do you know how many people get it for pain and abuse it and sell it? You probably associate with people who are taking methadone for addiction or pain every day and you don’t even suspect it….You’d be shocked if you actually knew the numbers.
And I bet the “current patients” will not be grandfathered in.
More like 24 months too long. Answer me again why we should pay for somebodys drug habit, at all?
Why? To continue Discovery House’s profit margin. They( and Acadia) are raking in the bucks and making it look like they are saving the world. Let’s see– one methadone addict times many years times state reimbursement= the golden cow!
I say tie them to a State Truck for 24 Months picking up trash along the highways!
Tell them if they get addicted again it goes to 48 months!
Okay, here’s one idea. Like to see some other alternatives.
Let’s give them the two years (which does seem a tad long), and if they do not straighten up and get off drugs, then we assign them to a farm where they will work growing their own food, growing food for others in need, doing community service, and they will stay there for some length of time (to be determined by judge), and perhaps forever if they cannot stay away from drugs.
If the fear is that if we stop giving them drugs, that the crime rate will soar, that’s rather like blackmail – – you give me my drugs or I’ll rob you sort of thing. So let’s take away that fear by housing them separately from society, if they will not learn to do without drugs.
No, the methadone should be stepped down over the two years and if they’re not “clean,” sorry, but taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to support them. It’s bad enough we pay for their daily transportation to one or another methadone clinic.
Imagine this – people from Washington County are driven down to Portland (!) or another methadone clinic every single day! We are paying for that. This Bill doesn’t address that because that was – according to the article – removed from the Bill.
Physical work will help clean their bodies and their minds, and they won’t be tempted because the drugs won’t be there, if we’re vigilant, and teach them survival skills like growing their own food.
We are not dealing with simply a pattern of destructive behaviors. If so, this could be easily treated. Opiate addiction is a chemical brain disorder that can be treated and “balanced” with methadone/suboxone much like antidepressants that stabilize brain chemistry in mental illnesses. The kicker is that there is no way to predict if this altered brain chemistry is ever going to heal completely, or at least enough for the addict to functiion without opioid supplementation.
You don’t “treat and balance” addiction with methadone and suboxone.
You feed the addiction with them.
The ONLY way to even attempt to extract one’s self from the stranglehold of addiction, is ;
(#1. Don’t listen to people such as yourself that always have an excuse for addictive behavior.
(#2. Make it a priority in your life and JUST STOP !
I agree. We have had so much of our power stripped that we can no longer take responsibility for our own addictions and vices. Its societies fault, its the governments fault, its mom and dads fault, everyone else is responsible for taking care of us, its wrong. An addict should be Helped not Coddled like a helpless child. Some of the institutions such as methadone act as an enabling body. Feed the drug with a drug, vicious. With that mentality people start thinking drugs solve everything it is learned behavior – we live in a crazy world.
I doubt that many here realize this fact.
Anyone can go to a methadone clinic, play the game, and become enrolled in the program, all with NO DOCTOR INVOLVEMENT !
Doesn’t that seem strange to you?
who writes the Rx’s?
Please correct me if I’m wrong ….. but as I understand it … a Doctor has to sign off and actually see the patient first. After that, the Methadone clinic takes over. RNs on staff or Counselors can adjust the dosage. If the patient walks in and complains of a sore throat, some one on the staff can diagnose that the dosage needs to be increased.
That statement is ludicrous! What you describe is, in fact, practicing medicine without a license, which is a felony.
So, what you are saying is that EVERY potential client of a methadone clinic has a face to face appointment with a bonafide doctor before they are given a dose?
There is a difference between an “excuse” and “enabling”. Look it up.
are you aware that your brain produces it’s own natural opiod’s called endorphines?
It’s that system that is damaged from chronic opiate abuse.
Simply detoxifying from illicit opaites (and just saying NO)does not repair the neurotransmitter system.
It takes the brain a long time to heal itself, like any medical illness does.
And I do indeed listen to myself everyday, and consider myself the giver of the best advice for myself, as I can see that you do too.
I am familiar with the addiction treatment field, are you?
I am fully aware that this addiction is physiological not psychological. I am not familiar with the field of addiction treatment, i’m not an academic, social worker, or medical doctor, i’m a simple layman, but when you see some one “junked out” or “doned out” you have to wonder what is the difference. Your taking the lesser of the two evils but does that justify it.
Please shed light on my ignorance, and enlighten this board with your knowledge of this field and if you could offer a proposal that would greatly be appreciated. You know the people like me that are too ignorant to understand the nuts and bolts have a hard time grasping this topic. But I have been told that when you provide the environment for abuse by provoking or turning a blind eye that is considered enabling.
The proposal is that we all need to be kinder to each other, stop judging and do the best we can with what we have and who we are.
I am fine with that request. I just ask that addicts not pick my pocket to pay for their addictions, no matter if it is legal or illegal.
Using addictive drugs for ANY reason has to be viewed in the same light as using a tablesaw while blindfolded.
You may become addicted, or you may lose a limb.
Both could be considered permanent, and both would be considered stupid.
or you could put on safety glasses and dump the blindfold
What happens when an addict gets sent to jail? Do they continue to get drugs?
Depends on which county you are incarcerated in as whether inmates can continue their prescribed medications
That may be so BUT they are also selling these drugs that they are getting for (so called) FREE.
If it is a mental condition then why isn’t it treated in a Dr.’s office or mental health facility?
The State closed down prison farms, one of the few genuine opportunities to contribute while doing time, heal wounds, and lower food costs.
Our state once created ‘workfare’….you worked in exchange for any benefits you received, and were expected to work, unless you were the single parent of a child under 6. What happened to that program ? Did someone determine it was unfair to expect one to work for their benefits ? We employed taxpayers are expected to do so for our food and shelter. Why is it not unfair to taxpayers to pay for those who choose their non-working, drugged up lifestyle ? Our headlines state that more are collecting now in Maine, than paying into our tax dollars. “Give a man a fish, and he will eat for one day, Teach him to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime”. How simple is that to understand ? Teaching addicts, prisoners, and habitual offenders how to support themselves is of benefit to all of us. Why can our lawmakers not see this simple solution…or what is the payoff they are getting to not see it ?
I’d be in favor of this plan as long as they don’t have to grow food organically.
And needless to say………..they ALL get a mileage check and a lot of them car pool. It’s terrible what hard working Mainers are having to pay for. 4 get into a car and 4 get checks and laugh all the way to the bank!
Yes, all the time! If people REALLY understood what was going on they would be outraged! Tons of med’s sold in the parking lot as soon as they leave the building! Some don’t even try to hide it! The mileage really gets me though, someone should really tackle that!
You are so blind to the truth. NOBODY at my local clinic sells drugs in the parking lot..Sure, they can drive up the road and do their deals,,but not in any clinic parking lots..That’s what the security guards are for..
EXCUSE ME NOT ALL of them get a mileage reimbursement check. Maybe you should learn a little more before you say things.
Charleston correctional facility is pretty much doing that now.
there is no golden cow at the final $ amount is $60. per week
Don’t forget the third one, the metro something…. But Bangor has three clinics. Rumor has it there is enough pill heads to open two more.
Better 24 Months once,
than 6 months ten times!
The treatment is daily. What does a dose cost on average $50-$80 a day. That’s $36,500.00 to
$58,400.00 for 2 years. How many patients are on it? I’m just guestimating. Don’t forget to count in $870.00 a month transportation costs that they can be reimbursed.
Wasn’t taking the original narcotic a choice? Why are we paying for their bad choices.
On MaineCare it’s $60. per week as it’s a bundled weekly rate. so that’s $8.57 rounded off
That’s still to much to paid for someone’s bad choices in life.
To self pay its $17 a day, Sounds to me like MaineCARE is getting a good deal.
What!!! 50-80 bucks a day?? NOOOOOO..It’s $95 a week..See?? UNEDUCATED..That’s just ludicrous..Think about it..
Here comes the “right” vs “left” discussion again.
Feelgood liberals will not give up until the entire state sinks into the cesspool of socialism.
I disagree, I’m as liberal as they come. I do not feel this benefits society and that drug laws should have harsher punishments than the current slap on the wrist they deliver. We have, as a society coddled drug abusers, drug dealers, and the drug culture for far too long. It increases our healthcare costs, leads to poverty and the dis-functionality of families, while decreasing productivity.
The owners of these facilities are raking in the cash for each visit – a “for profit” enterprise that is raping the taxpayer, and enabling habits that are counterproductive to society to proliferate. I suggest mandatory drug testing across the spectrum (yes that is right – everyone), particularly in our schools where this would have the greatest and longest lasting impact.
on the other hand, the drug laws get tougher and tougher and we have more and more addicts… more laws are NOT the answer, let people make their own choices, but stop having society bail them out. When they realize they won’t eat, much less buy more drugs, if they don’t work, that is when they will think twice. Too much welfare, too many families on it for generations, breed a class of people with unreasonable expectations and absolutely NO understanding of consequences. When they have to actually face the consequences of their own decisions, that is when the drug use will decline. Not when we have tougher laws and even more people put in prison, which is just a school for learning how to be a “real” criminal.
I wholeheartedly disagree, the laws have been becoming increasing lax and unless you present “real consequences”, the enduring drug-state will continue. You can’t realistically let people or their children starve – that is inhumane and counterproductive (translation – they will steal as a matter of survival). Jail time is a real consequence that they should have to face. If society wants to “get real” with its drug problems, than you root it (drugs) out and provide real consequences,not starve them or their families.
The truth of the matter is a large portion of our population can no longer make its own decisions based on its hedonistic propensities and inability to do what is in the interest of the common good, that is why government needs to step in. Too many lives are being wasted and too many families are suffering needlessly because of drugs and the socioeconomic issues caused by drug use.
I agree with Weneedbigbrither
AND…funny……..I am NOT drug addicted, or other kind of “problem” but I CAN’T GET GLASSES……………I am an Artist and my first tool is my eyes! I just made my 3rd eye exam appointment in 3 years……………………..paid for by Mainecare….BUT I haven’t yet been able to get the $450. glasses prescribed to me 3 years ago, to correct a cateract problem without surgery. I am still using the 4 yr old glasses that were WRONG from the beginning……………….The Optomitrist urged me to try them for a month, has NEVER provided any satisfaction, when I COMPLAINED, ( last heard from he offered to do the 450. prescription for only 250. Well thanks but no thanks, why should I believe it would be any better tha the last pair?) I was wearing my older glasses but then the frame broke. Even at 6 yrs old they worked better. I am healthy, if I had cancer or diabetes…..my medical costs would be covered. In fact $1,200. of my SS annual income goes to Medicare for OTHER SICK PEOPLE TO USE! ( via Mainecare, if I lose that coverage, I lose 1,200. of SS income I can’t do with out.)
Maybe you should start pumping gas instead of painting so that you can sustain yourself
Do you REALLY think pumping gas brings a living wage? The problem we have in America right now is too many gas pumper mentalities going to vote………………….. Better I take up plumbing or electrician……………
“Livable wage” is a relative term. It certainly pays more than 99% of what artists make. Plumbing and electrical are both noble professions.
Interesting! Art has been a noble profession for centuries, since the caveman days when the best artist was called upon to draw animals on the cave walls. The better the likeness the more likehood of catching the animal they a were manifesting……… FOR FOOD! On the other hand..the first electric utility was installed here in 1816….not even 200 years ago. Although my electrician certainly thinks he is nobility, he charged a king’s ransome for 45 min at my circuit breaker.
Of course glasses should be a health benefit & covered. What is the point of Medicare paying for repeated exams if the means to fix the problem is not possible.
I thought they were still teaching history in the schools……………….
Wow! You must really be something to be judging people by their occupation. Every single citizen has the right to vote.
Actually I am judging them on their poor voting record, not their occupation. I have watched freedom slide away for the last 30 years…gaily, do you REALLY think you have the option of thinking for yourself? It is the rich men/wizard behind the government/curtain who are the deciding for us…………….Are you familiar with Citizens Unlimited? read about it here..
http://jamesjcrook.hubpages.com/hub/US-SUPREME-COURTS-KILLING-OF-AMERICAS-DEMOCRACY-Courts-Ruling-in-Citizens-United-vs-Federal-Election-Commission
Actually he has a very valid point – eye care should be a health benefit for everyone.
So should dental, I havent been to a dentist in years because a dentist wont see me because of mainecare, even if i have the money to pay the bill
There must be something else involved. I have a friend on MaineCare who pays for her dental care.
That’s not true at all..Maine Care does pay for dental cleanings twice a year, and extractions if needed. They pay for necessary x-rays and any dental work done if the tooth is bothering you..The tooth has to be a problem tho before they’ll help you pay..They pay for your visit right? Your prescriptions?? $3.00 co-pay?? So how are you any different from anybody else who has Maine Care. So you’re saying they refuse to treat you because you have Maine Care?? Ahhh..NO! That’s not the case at all..How can you compare a damn dentist visit to addiction?? UNEDUCATED!!!
the point is maine care will pay for these people to be high but not for tooth fixing all mainecare pays for for dental is extractions not a filling or a cleaning and thats only if you can find a dentist that will take the maine care and good luck with that. there are only six in the state that will take it for adults and yes dentists do refuse to treat maine care patients
Not everyone is high, there are those that abuse it, they don’t use it to better their lives they use it for a cheap or free daily high, BUT there are those who take it to make their lives better.
so they need to pay for their own rehab they didn’t have a problem spending on their habit
I wasn’t comparing a dentist visit to addiction, I was just saying where I live there are no dentists that will see anyone over the age of 18 if you are on mainecare for any reason. And I KNOW about addiction, I am married to an addict, and he will always be an addict so please don’t call me UNEDUCATED!
I have a disorder called TMJ only 1 dentist in the state will have anything to do with me because I HAVE MAINECARE and guess where they are located about 3 and a half hours away(one way).
I think gas pumping jobs are on the “nearly extinct jobs” list.
That being said, you just fed into the “starving artist” stereotype. I know some artists who do quite well – I wish I could afford one or two of their paintings.
By your above post, I dare say you are no more “Liberal” than I am.
Well considering I’m a socialist advocating the nationalization of all industry and resources, more government and government control, than yes I am a a very left-wing liberal; the point being everyone looks at one specific issue and makes a automatic judgement based on that one opinion; there are some issues that liberals and conservatives actually can agree on, but we continue to “label” each other and automatically discount each others opinion based on that label furthering the polarization that precludes real discussion of issues. My “liberalism” embraces order for the benefit of society, because it is in the best interest of the citizenry. Translation – I think for myself and try to use logic to approach an issue.
And if we are to be under Government Control, then you will lose your freedoms right along with every one else. You won’t be able to think for yourself or use logic – bigbrother will do it for you.
Thanks but NO THANKS!
agreed!
What do you think we should do about this problem? Coming up with possible solutions is a positive thing. But simply calling names is so kindergarten.
It isn’t just this problem.
It seems to be a complete breakdown in the basic tenet of self responsibility.
And it has been fostered by decades of liberal policies that in effect, tell people that they don’t have to take responsibility for their own actions.
This problem specifically?
Shut them off.
Period.
Hi noparkforme – I do agree that fewer people today seem to take responsibility for their own actions, always looking for others to blame.
But I wouldn’t blame it specifically on “liberals,” (whatever that means in today’s world). I see plenty of conservatives who seem to have no sense of responsibility, either.
I blame at least some of it on the corporate control of TV and those computer games where the players -mostly young males – are shown how to kill the targets which look exactly like human beings, in cities and in the country. It’s weird.
And all the mindless, no-responsibility violence, especially against women which never used to be shown on TV, in both movies and TV.
Kids learn by example, and there are some awful ones out there today.
I’m tired of this political party or that political party is to blame for this or that – I think we need to get together on real issues and forget the political parties, who are way too busy dividing the people from one another.
I know many of us – liberal and conservative – agree on certain issues and we should work together on them rather than be suspicious of the “other” because they’s Dems. or Reps. That won’t get us very far.
Here in Washington County, for example, we’ve worked together to keep poisons out of our clean water. All political stripes work together on this issue, and we have had some successes.
And by conservative, I mean the most right wing of the right in a few cases. But everybody cares about clean drinking water, so we put all else aside and worked together on just that one issue – – and we learned that neither side is the bogeyman, and some of us are now friends with people we never would have hung out with before.
What a wonderful American you are, so open minded. Maybe this isn’t the country for you, try Yemen. Good luck with your sweet understanding attitude. ;)
Facilitator.
I don’t know about Yemen, but this isn’t the country it used to be, and I doubt that it will get any better if the comments in this communist rag are any indicator.
I’m sure you don’t ;(
It is amazing to me that Penobscot County Jail can get you clean from all substances in 30 days under their care. If they are successful, then why not the meth clinics ? Making money, and acquiring federal tax dollars at the expense and health of the unsuspecting public is big business nationwide.
You mean the methamphedamine clinics?
didn’t know we had any.
No county jail gets anyone clean. It simply keeps them physically away from drugs while they are locked up just to relapse the day they get out. The problem with addiction is not stopping. It’s not starting again. I’ve quit smoking four times.
no accountability/no fault of my own/my circumstances are to blame=disease…like diabetes or cancer. it’s amazing what man and society will invent to prevent them from being personally responsible for our own behavior.
0
Obviously you don’t know what it means to be addicted to something. It isn’t like liking pizza and choosing to buy pizza every night. There are complex connections being made in the brain that drive physiological responses. There is no “on/off” switch when it comes to addiction.
the thing is people go to rehab centers and get clean in 90, 120 days, why does it take over 2 years for these people?
Because methadone is liquid heroin more or less. So while the person isnt doing straight heroin they still are taking a narcotic that has addictive properties. They try to use this methadone with addicts like they use nicarit gum with smokers. It doesnt work though.
I was an alcoholic that preferred to drink Jim Beam. When I decided to get clean do you suppose my doctor, my mental health counselor or anyone in AA suggested that I wean myself from alcohol by drinking something lower in alcohol content like beer? Of course they didnt! However that is what they are doing in the case of methadone and heroin addicts.
You must have meant you are a recovering alcoholic. It’s alcoholism not alcohol-was-m.
Once we have conned ourselves everyone else is easy. I don’t have any solutions but I do know
that life is much better substance free. You and I know that one has to work at sobriety not
just be on maintenance plan.
I prefer to call myself an alcoholic. The recovering word is something some people like to use. I wake up everyday saying that I have to get only through the next hour without drinking and then do it 24 times that day. Then I do it again the next day. I know that there could be something that comes into my life that could make me think about drinking again and then it would turn into rationalizing, permitting, drinking, getting drunk and being in the crap again.
I’m glad you have had success.Much good fortune to you.
substituting beer for whiskey does sound a little odd, but just ask your doctor, there are anti-craving medications for alcohol addiction that are quite effective. But as you view medications as a no-no than I guess you’de never need bother to ask.
My Doctor told me years ago to stop drinking or else I would need a new liver and probably would get throat cancer and die by the age of 45. I went to a counselor to get help with stopping the drinking. I went to another on for personal issues I hadnt dealt with. I went and still go to AA.
I think medication is just fine. If it is used the right way.
My point is that we dont wean people from alcohol use by allowing them to drink less potent forms of it. I think the process of giving things like methadone to heroin addicts in the hope that they one day will be clean is foolish. Methadone and Heroin are both Narcotics. You are replacing one drug that will seriously mess you up with one that will only partly mess you up. The fact that there are people who get this treatment for years with it being financed by tax payer funds is something that angers me greatly.
Are you shocked that with mental health counseling, peer support and personal responsibility and hard work I was able to control my addicition and refrain from drinking? Are you shocked that I didnt need a drug to help me and that I dont still need to be on it? Are you shocked that I managed to become sober without the help of tax payer funds?
I have a former addict running one of my businesses. This person got in like many with a doctor that liked to write heavy painkillers for muscle pain and the person chose to hide from their problems instead of confronting them. Anyway, after years of heavy painkiller abuse decided enough was enough and quit. I am told 3 days of nightmare withdrawals, followed by a couple days of sleep then strength started to build. It took about a week after years of dedicated abuse. Person has been clean for years and is a great productive member of society.
1 week of tough love and determination will cure all that want to be cured. Methadone is a joke but a legal way for big profits to be made off dealing drugs. I am bullish on profit but not at the expense of a human life or community.
@Bushfan, you and your employee clearly don’t understand what addiction is. He was never an addict at all. He was simply physically dependent on the pills. Physical dependence is not the same as addiction even if some tend to think it is. A physically dependent person can fix his problem by detoxing which is clearly what your employee did. But detoxing doesn’t cure addiction, or even help. I can assure you that almost everyone coming to a methadone clinic have gone through the hell of withdrawals, determined to stay clean forever, several times. But because there is something wrong with their brains they keep relapsing over and over again. Using drugs for an addict is no more of a choice than doing rituals is for someone with OCD. Both groups have an overwhelming compulsion to do something they really don’t want to do that ruins their life. If 1 week of tough love and determination would cure addiction do you really think that addicts would keep going to prison, lose their children, lose their careers and hobbies, get sick, etc., etc.? If you think so you are truly ignorant.
and for those true addicts you refer to, if they are truly trying to help themselves, and the clinic does the work to document it, they can get more time, but no more getting your free drugs year after year, only doing minimal treatment and living off others.
“do you really think that addicts would keep going to prison, lose their children, lose their careers and hobbies, get sick, etc., etc.? If you think so you are truly ignorant”.
No, I don’t think they want all those things to happen to them but I believe they are too “ignorant” and selfish to take repsonibility and care about anyone other then themselves. If you don’t think it is about personal choie then you my freind are the ignorant one.
BTW, my employee that makes me a small fortune, and her too, that used to be an ADDICT, not a “physically dependent person” is a she not a he. She now speaks at some private settings about addiction.
We need to start jailing the doctors running these FL pill mills instead of abortion doctors.Look up the town of War,WV and their addiction problems.
Are we jailing abortion doctors now?
A lot of the laws being discussed or passed are trying their best to make that happen.
Thank you for giving a former addict a chance.I’m glad it has worked out for all concerned.
She has done excellent for herself, coworkers and me. With that said, I will be honest, I didn’t know she was a former junkie before I hired her. So don’t go giving me a junkie humanitarian award just yet. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have given her the chance, trust me. It really shows me a couple of things. I, like many that own businesses, do background checks, drug tests and credit report checks. Most people that wear there addiction on their sleeve will be rejected from high end careers. If they stay out of the clinics and battle the demon from within with support from their family, friends, church, or whomever the chances of them rebounding with a stronf career is much better. Also, it is very unlikely my employee would hire a former junkie herself. She knows the temptations and how hard it is. It would be her call to hire or not to hire. The bottom line is that she is trying to run a business. If she has 2 applicants going for the same job and she finds out one used to reside at Acadia, I doubt that one would get the job. Business is risky enough, why borrow trouble. Sympathy is to be given from mom and dad, not your employer. Business is business, people often confuse business and personal and then they end up unemployed.
The best thing about hiring a former addict is that they can see them coming a mile away. That is very, very useful.
All excellent points.With this economy many people who have kept their noses clean(quite literally)are struggling for work.A lot of people will look at the length of time that sobriety has been achieved.Your last paragraph speaks volumes. My company almost made a similar error until we were warned by a current employee that his wife had been robbed by this guy is a drug fueled frenzy.Thank God she had Mace!
I will say this from my experiences with addicts.MANY of them blame the world and were taught to from a young age.Nothing is ever their fault and rules are for other people.For those who can face what they need to do,success is much faster in arriving.
“one week of tough love will cure all…”
A. Methadone is a relatively cheap drug; there are no big profits to be made.
B. It appears that your employee is not and never was a “dual diagnosis” person. That is fortunate for both of you.
C. Statistics show that anywhere from 40-60% of addicts have an underlying psychiatric illness which places them in a category more prone to addiction. They get hooked by self-medicating when trying to control their symptoms because they are often in denial about their mental illness, or they are years away from being correctly diagnosed.
D. Nobody grows up with dreams of becoming an addict – it’s a horrible life. Please dig down and develop some compassion for those whose dreams have died.
Actually they don’t get clean during 90-day stints in rehab. Over 90% of people that go through rehab, regardless of the length, relapse before long. The problem with addiction, as people seem to think, is not quitting. It’s not starting again. People are not on methadone for years because they can’t get through withdrawals. If withdrawals was the problem they could just do a 3-6 months methadone taper. The problem is that addicts have extreme, overwhelming compulsions to use drug and many also have severe depression which causes them to relapse time and time again. Methadone and Suboxone removes those cravings and relieves the depression allowing people to live normal, productive lives. Neither medication is “liquid heroin” and it doesn’t cause any kind of high for these patients. It just allows them to function normally, free from addiction. But when the treatment with the medication is discontinued the problems with compulsions and depression return and many relapse. Therefore some people will need treatment for a long time, some even indefinitely. It’s a lot cheaper for society to have someone in treatment than to have them in active addiction. And most methadone and suboxone patients work and pay taxes too. Receiving Medicaid doesn’t mean that you’re unemployed.
If that is true after two years of treatment on the taxpayers dime is long enough. After two years it should be their responsibility for payment if they want to keep getting treatment. The taxpayers shouldn’t be supplying the drug to begin with.
So instead you can pay for the jail, the psych hospital and the police to deal with the crime they leave in their wake. You will end up paying many time more this way.
Society has to deal with its problems. Passing laws to ignore pressing issues solves nothing. It is a feel good for misanthropes but there is no solution in any of it.
I can tell you right now, this is going to cost more money and more lives in the end. Substance abuse treatment has evolved to offer better outcomes. Society has devolved and chooses to turn a blind eye to progress. The problem is not that treatment costs too much, it is that we don’t get enough people into treatment.
You deserve the bad outcomes that are sure to come from this. Good upbringing or not, some are prone to abuse substances. You seem to think you are above these people. You are not.
I used to have a coworker that would come late as they had to make the trip to the clinic. One day he didnt show up. He was arrested and has been in and out of jail since. I guess his methadone treatments didnt do much to curb his criminality.
except, you forget, that the treatment should be more than just a dose of methadone every day, which is what most of these people do. They may sit through the groups they are mandated to do (or they may not and it doesn’t matter anyway), and then do their 15 minutes of counseling, but that is not making a true effort to get clean and should not be the reason they are allowed to do this for years on end.
Maine Care and the Office of Substance Abuse will determine which patients will be allowed waivers to stay in treatment beyond the 2 years. If it’s based upon documentation of attending required counseling and esp urine tests negative for ALL illicit substances, than I guess the ones “working the hardest” would get the continued Waiver for treatment.
We must sit back and see how this plays out with the people in control before jumping to conclusions.
no, methaodne is NOT liquid heroin. If taken in the right amount (which can be ultimately determined by blood levels) patient do NOT get high. However, mixing drug “cocktails” with the prescribed methadone, does make people high and is deadly.
“Get clean”, but do you know the statistics on how many actually “stay clean”? from being in rehabs?
It’s quite disappointing.
Opioid addiction does not respond well to abstinance based treatments
the thing is, they get clean, whether they stay clean or not is up to them. My opinion may not be popular but even if it is a struggle, they need to make the choice to stay away from drugs. Some people do and do stay clean. If they don’t want to, and don’t, then why should we be paying for it?
and how is this my problem or the state of Maine’s? I haven’t been aware that we the people have been stuffin pills up anyone’s nose or driving the needle in anyone’s arms so I guess I am not all too worried or concerned for the idiot who got themselves addicted to drugs! My advice is get a job and pay for your own rehab!
Whether you like it or not, we are a civilized society, and we have a responsibility to help each other in times of need. Stop being selfish.
Then you take care of them all and I will keep my hard earned money. I work hard EVERY DAY to support my family and can no longer afford to support an addict. They CHOSE to take a drug that EVERYONE had told them was addictive and harmful, NOT my problem.
“YOUR” hard earned money is called taxes. It’s not yours anymore. Do you have a problem with the appropriations committee taking millions of taxes for their own companies etc or is that ok because those politicians ‘work?”
Typical left wing response.
yes taxes are taken to support necessary programs -I think suppling drugs for addicts is not one — ps AA is free- I know-I’m clean and sober 21 yrs april 4 2012
That money is given with the idea that it will be spent for the benefit of overall society in appropriate and responsible ways without waste, fraud and abuse occuring. Paying people addicted to narcotics to continue being treated with another form of narcotics is stupid.
And after two years( the limit this bill suggests) of being non selfish and civilized it is time to stop being Mr. Nice Guy. I would prefer to spend some of my dollars for a civilized society on elderly people, sick children who have cancer or some poor person born without a limb.
There is nothing selfish about this, except of course in the liberal mind. Being a drug addict is not a disease, anymore than alcoholism is a disease. How is it that smoking is not a disease?
Two years is more than enough time if anyone wants to get clean on our money. Otherwise, maybe they will leave and start treatment in another state…even better.
Seen a documentary on this from NYC, and people have been on this program as of 1976, they always find something else to take with drug to cause a high, that is why sudafed is now over the counter as well as many other drugs that they were stealing so dam much.
Patients that abuse other drugs while in treatment are the ones that give the ones doing well a bad name. You only notice the “troublemakers” because their behaviors draw attention. the people doing well in treatment are camoflaged and blend in with you and I, as they’re suppossed to.
Drinking alocohol is not itself a disease. Nor is taking illicit drugs. The ADDICTION to these drugs is the disease, not the behavior. Nicotine addiction is very much a disease. Some people’s physiology allows them to smoke when they want (including not at all after having smoked), while others’ physiology makes it very difficult to stop, even when they want to.
Addiction is an extremely complex matter, the details of which we don’t fully understand, as the study of the brain is still in its infancy. Only recently, with the use of functional MRI, have we been able to see how different areas of the brain respond to various stimuli. This is only the first step in understanding how the control center of our brain works. We still don’t even know exactly how antidepressants work.
Addiction is not a disease. Is everything people are addicted to a disease? Or are only the things that they want other people to pay for labeled as a disease?
Addiction most certainly is a disease. It involves neural pathways in the brain being altered. Any scientist who studies the brain will tell you this.
sorry but it is a choice not a desiese it is just an excuse to get the good feeling
Addiction is not a choice. Anyone who thinks so has no idea what they’re talking about. You would do well to read about addiction at your local library.
Why do you think smoking is not a disease.?
Pull out the DSM manual and Tobacco Abuse and Tobacco Dependancyare in there along with everything else.
It seems the only ones that are interested in helping are
the liberal politicians. The “patients” as a whole seem to have a
lack of interest in overcoming their addiction. Let’s see how many will line up
for their free drug fix if strict guidelines are put in place. Mandatory
community service, drug testing ( if not already in place) and employment
expectations. The “patients” seem to carry on their same lives as
when they were getting their fix from their dealer, hanging out with the same
crowd of friends, no job etc.
Agree distribute my work ethics not my paycheck
I worked as a driver for a residential drug treatment facility.It was amazing to see the difference between those there as court ordered,committed by family or employer or self referred.The last group truly wanted success and worked toward it in many cases.The other two looked at it as a paid vacation to dry out,play softball,watch movies and eat better than they did at home.
and what you’ve said GPBand is the simple crux of it all.
It’s mostly about motivation but partly about biology
What are the state programs doing for the alcoholics? How about taxpayer funded nicotine? Both of these are more harmful than an opiate addiction.
AA and the patch work great at a minimal cost.
AA and the patch “might” work at minimul cost. sure it’s great to start with the most available and cheapest forms of treatment, but other forms of treatment need to be available as “ones size does not fit all”.
Agreed.Addiction is no easy fix.But if a treatment plan is followed to the letter there is often a good chance of success.I know a drunk driver who could afford the best lawyers and kept getting preferential treatment in the courts.The trick for him was an ignition interlock.
if the person is really motivated to follow the treament plans and they are offered treatments for ALL aspects of the Addiction; biological, psychosocial, behavioral, and pharmacological if needed.
And……………..money can sure buy you love….and justice.
The last sentence applies everywhere in life.Addiction therapy has come a long way.
And Mainecare pays how much for those treatments?
Which treatments?AA/Patch?everything?
very well said!!!!!!
I disagree, we don’t have any obligation to help others unless you were part of the problem. We help others out of the good of our hearts, and there is nothing wrong with that.
I do NOT have a responsibility to support someone that made the Choice to start doing drugs in the first place, I divorced my 1st husband because I was sick of doing that and I resent people thinking I should support every idiot out there that chooses to start doing drugs in the first place. We all have choices to make, people need to be responsible for their own actions and stop thinking everyone else should take care of them when they make ridiculously bad ones
The day the first meth clinic opened in Bangor, our city changed. Most two family homes in my neighborhood were converted into 4 unit efficiencies to bring in more rental dollars, as the addicts bills are paid by our city welfare, state medicaid and foodstamps, and federal tax dollars. Landlords filled these efficiencies with one addict, who then brought along several friends and family still using. It was a boost to keeping city taxes paid by any means possible. If we saw success statistics on addicts and their recovery, the public might be sympathetic. We do know the crime rate has soared due to drug addiction. We do know state tax dollars given to addicts are not solving anyone’s problems. Check out Burlington VT’s solution to their runaway drug problem. “The opiate solution” is an MPBN movie proving stricter penalties on use and dealing have saved lives and made life safer for innocent crime victims due to drug addiction.
You have a methamphedamine clinic in Bangor??!!!
since when does taking care of someone mean a lifetime of methadone support? I have known a few people that at one point were into the H. A cold turkey withdrawl and counselling would seem more cost effective to me than keeping someone on the legal version of the drug.
I shouldn’t have quit smoking and found a way for the state to give me my marlboro lights instead of the reds. Society has a responsibility to support me as well I guess.
how about some Chantix?
No two people are alike. One person may be able to quit something immediately, with few problems. Others, unfortunately, may have a much harder time. One-size-fits-all medical care is an ill-conceived idea.
I agree that the methadone clinics are legalized drug dealers. As for we the people stuffing pills? We the people have stood idly by while our children have been turned on by our schools. They are pushing mind/mood altering drugs on elementary school children. By the time they get to middle school they think it’s normal to take pills.
Most of our addicts are addicted in their early teens or earlier. We have a responsibility toward trying to get them off drugs, methadone and suboxin included.
You hit that nail!My friend has a degree in ECE and they now have to take a class in drug interactions.Parents/schools love Ritalin-anything for quiet.And the US is one of only two countries that legalize drug ads.NZ or Australia might be the other.
Thats what I say –PAY FOR THERE OWN DAM HABBIT !!!!
and you may well be paying for their” habit”, when “they” burgarize your house, as the substance abuse treatment options continue to be reduced to Zero.
In the late 70’s my 50 year old mother was battling pancreatic cancer. While still in the ICU following surgery she became addicted to her pain meds. Mom was so afraid of the pain returning and having to wait for a nurse to get permission for her to get another shot. They ended up giving her Methadone both for the addiction and for the pain relief. When she was able to go home, my sister and I administered the shots to her.
Eventually, she was given an experimental drug called Brompton’s Solution which was a liquid that she could take when she needed it.
It angers me to read some of these comments. Yes, we have a terrrible problem with addiction here. Much of it is due to reckless behavior. But I will never stop telling people that addiction can happen to anyone; even under the most controlled conditions; and that Methadone has a place in the RESPONSIBLE treatment of both addiction and PAIN.
Addiction is a very complicated biological disease often with behavioral symptoms.
Many people become dependant when treating acute or chronic pain and before they know it they are on the same endless treatmill of withdrawals just like the little teeny-bopper next door that thought it would be fun to snort a few pills.
RESPONSIBLE is the word you use. How long did your mother have to use rely on methadone? I nearly lost someone from pancreatic cancer a few years ago and know that it is an awful, agressive disease. I think we can all understand how someone in horrible pain from a horrible cancer would need methadone until they passed away.
What we are mostly commenting on here is people who become addicted to illegal drugs like heroin as they started using them of their own free will. If those people cannot manage to get clean after two years then I think it is more than appropriate to stop the state aid they may be getting.
Mom lived only 8 months following her diagnosis. The liquid Brompton’s Solution was a blessing because the injections were given subcutaneously and she berely weighed 85 pounds at the end.
My point is many people have such a negative impression of the medicine and I wanted to say that it is an important part of the treatment of intolerable pain.
Not everyone who attends an opiate treatment facility “got themselves addicted to drugs” A larger amount of people where introduced to opiates by DOCTORS! And kept on opiates by DOCTORS! For those who don’t know what it is like to be addicted when you didn’t have a choice in the matter need to close the lips and let those who HAVE and HAD this problem be the ones to comment on it.
That’s why you don’t dance with the devil called addiction.
“Stay away from drugs, or run the risk of addiction and eventual premature death”.
This is the message we SHOULD be sending to our young people.
Instead, what they are hearing is “go ahead and try it, and if you get addicted, nanny state will be there with transport, EBT card, and a free high for you”.
I do, I live with it everyday. That is why I go to AA. That is why I went to a mental health professional. Do you suppose that 8 years after starting to give up drinking that the state should somehow continue to be paying for my sobriety? Or do you suppose that we might be able to return so personal responsibility to people and hold them accountable?
Good for you for being able to stay sober. But others aren’t as fortunate.
” RARELY have we seen a person fail who has thouroughly followed our path “. Two years seems long enough , if a person really wants to get clean !
I have seen many people fail “that have followed our path”.
You skipped the word ” thoroughly ” , there are no shortcuts to recovery from addiction. If your not willing to sweat a little then you must be willing to accept the results as completely your own !
Maintaining abstinance is not only based upon making behavioral changes, but much depends on each individual person’s brains ability to “heal itself” and start producing it’s own neurotransmitters again. That system gets damaged and changed during drug use
I agree that people can permanently damage themselves from drug and alcohol use and reduce themselves to the mental function of a small child. But is it our fault that they have done this to themselves. At what point do we say “We gave them help, we tried, it didnt work, we are cutting the cord now”?
I agree completely. If someone truly needs to be on methadone or suboxone for the rest of their life, so be it. They’ve been given 2 years to get their lives together, then it’s time to pay for it themselves.
Congratulations on your sobriety.
My wife has been sober for 16 years and agrees with you 100%. She also says to tell you good job and keep it up.
We were talking about this story earlier. Agreed about having the state pay for her Bud Light so that she could quit the whiskey.
Today’s society is turning into a cradle to the grave way of living.
I doubt anyone had their arm twisted to try out those drugs in the first place. Poor choices that we as a people are expected to cover the cost of. I say no allowance at all under Maine Care for these druggies.
I don’t see them offering us pot heads any good drugs.
Yes Ruanrrobbins I do. Giving them another drug does not help. Getting sober, going to meetings does.
get up!!! walk away!!!! Your are healed!!!
I wish it was that simple
Knowbody buys my dam pizza that I want every night —so I go without it !!
You must be young, unlike me.
Wait awhile till you start having indigestion and that Pizza won’t look so great to you anymore.
except, if they never started abusing drugs, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Even if addiction is a disease, it’s not a comparison to something like diabetes, cancer, etc. that you will likely come down with no matter what you do.
Sounds like Rep. Sanborn was your doctor!
There is on On/Off switch, so to speak
The brain becomes “wired” to do what it does chemically.
Just detoxing doesn’t repair the connection or make the “bad one” stop working
I really hope I’ve misread this and you didn’t really just say that addiction is similar to cancer (a problem that the individual is responsible for) did you?
my thoughts exactly. No one chose cancer, these people chose drugs.
people chose to smoke cigarettes, even though everyone knows that causes lung cancer–are you willing to cut off medical benefits under Mainecare for people whose smoking history has led to cancer? What about folks with heart disease who are overweight, knowing that with every McDonalds happy meal they are one step closer to a major heart attack? should they be cut off from Maine care benefits? Bottom line is that many of our health problems are our own fault
Obesity has skyrocketed in a generation or two while smoking has declined.We as a society chose to demonize smokers and go after the companies for lying to us.I still remember bussing tables with an ashtray on every one and the whole staff smoking.No more.We now have a possibility that our kids’ life expectancy will drop from ours.
actually, people who smoke and cause their own health issues, should have limited assistance, people need to learn to be responsible for the choices they make in life and not make everyone else responsible.
Actually if they caused their own health problems they should be cut off from Maine care. Any one who can afford to smoke shouldn’t be collecting benefits. I spend $200 a month on my families health care, how much a month does the average smoker spend on cigarettes?
Cancer is sometimes caused by things we have done. Lung cancer for example is often linked to smoking. Cervical cancer is caused by having unprotected sex. Alcohol consumption and poor eating habits also contribute to certain cancers as does occupation and residency. In fact around 40% of cancers are due to lifestyle choices. Of course nobody chooses to get cancer but they chose the activity that lead to it. In that sense it is quite similar to addiction. Nobody chooses to become addicted but some chose the activity that lead to it. That choices lead to addiction is not really true for all addicts. Many become addicted after being prescribed medication for illnesses or injuries. A large part of methadone patients became addicted that way.
To say that people are at fault for their disorder/disease is really ignorant and simplistic. Addiction is complicated and the reason someone becomes an addict is complicated. You clearly don’t understand it and until you do you should refrain from judging.
You sound as though your bread is being buttered by treating addicts. Its the same ol song and dance…I was a bad boy, now take care of me.
the difference being whether you can clearly prove that the behavior led to the issue.
My head tell me what you’re saying is true and I’ve said the same thing numerous times. The “its a disease, like cancer” argument REALLY bothers me because people do acquire this condition due to their actions. Once the addiction takes hold though, it really does take over. You can argue that nobody should get to that point and I’ll agree/disagree depending on the day because good arguments are made on both sides. Full fledged addicts cannot just “stop”. It rewires your neural pathways and people end up needing drugs to survive – in some cases literally. There’s a ton of research out there if you care to look and read it. Its not a black/white issue at all. I don’t know if 2 years is long enough to get people off methadone – I hope it is.
Yes, indeedy, you are right 4Real
Being responsible is seeking some sort of treatment and putting an effort into it.
amen
And, after the two year limit, where do they go and who pays???
here’s an idea move to another state where the taxpayers haven’t woke up yet!
hope your still not a junkie in two years, then go to a dispensary and buy a bag with your own money like everyone else!!!
2 years is a reasonable amount of time to get a job, a place to live and take some accountability of your own actions.
While we are at it we should consider the following. It is very easy now to get Social Security benefits and general assistance if they are drug addicts, alcoholics, depressed and obese. I think the systems is broken. When doling out payments give the drug addicts, alcoholics, depressed and obese(not from health reasons) a time limit to get rehabilitated in an appropriate amount of time to get back to the work force. If they choose not to get clean then when time is up cut off payments. It seems to me that in these years of bad politics and bad economic times who isn’t depressed or drinking? The welfare benefits should not be the primary income so that once they are in the system no one cuts them off. We all know many people who are stealing money and hand outs that never get out of the system and just sit home, watch tv, do drugs, drink all day and laugh all the way to their local market to buy more alcohol and twinkies after they buy ten cases of water on food stamps, return the bottles and use the cash for another good time. Oh yeah I forgot the neighbor who is getting handouts and works all day for the under the table jobs and laugh at their friends who only work for their pay. Way to go they have learned from the dirty politicians how to steal the poor working stiffs who are busting butts for $7.25 an hour jobs. The old saying is if ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well it’s broken and needs to be fixed and the longer we let it slide the longer it will stay broken.
Where the heck are you getting your information? NOBODY gets social security because they are drug addicts, alcoholics or obese. (Some people with major depressive disorder may get SS.) Addiction and obesity are not things that would qualify you to get benefits.
I personally know many addicts and alcoholics ( I’ve been clean for over 20 years ) who have also been diagnosed as bi-polar and do in fact receive social security disibility payments for that . Seems there is a relationship there , at least in these cases !
It is called co-occuring disorders. There is a relationship between substance abuse and mental illness.
At least, if not more of 75% of patients in methadone treatment have co-occuring disorders.
SSDI used to be for people whose bodies had broken down and who had their 40 quarters of employment(often they worked hard physical jobs and paid in for a lot longer) .If we went back to that rule and ENFORCED it,getting rid of all the 20 and 30 somethings who are “depressed”and who don’t have their 40 quarters in that would fix the problem right away.
I hear they have methadone clinics in Arizona.
This is the most incredibly stupid move that our legislature could possibly make. I get that people want to be angry at addicts and resent the drain they create on society – I’m with you in many respects. But the idea of removing medication from people arbitrarily is just dumb. We can expect to see an explosion in drug related crime and emergency room usage as a result of this – addicts need to get a fix and if they can’t get it through a legal route, they’re going to start getting it anyway they can.
I am one of those people that is resents addicts but I can’t help to understand that it is a physiological addiction. And that we must find sensitive ways to treat these diseased people. Many outside forces push methadone as the only treatment for Opioiod addiction. But there are holistic alternatives such as Detoxification Programs that require no methadone, Psychological Counseling, and Buprenorphine which is in many ways a better alternative to methadone. Even if these methods are sub par it will stop the abuses of the Methadone System. I’ll take drug related crime and emergency room usage because enough is enough. We don’t negotiate with terrorists we shouldn’t negotiate with addicts, we are hitting the critical mass in tolerating the abuses of opiates and the system that enables those who use them.
“Psychological Counseling” isn’t going to do anything more for a detoxing opiate addict that it would for you if you had a broken arm and were trying to find a way to get over the pain.
I find your parallel between opiate addicts and terrorists to be a thought product similar to that of the back row kids in high school. I now understand the depth of your ignorance. This is a complicated issue and not one that hate, anger, resentment, or primitive thought is going to resolve.
I’m happy that you are willing to ‘accept drug related crime and emergency room usage’, as long as you understand that those thing mean that when you need to drive your kid to the emergency room, you are going to discover that some untreated opiate addict stole your car, crashed it and now is in front of your child in the triage list for treatment. You get that, right?
You should step off your high horse. I’ve known people that have had this addiction. And it doesn’t affect my opinion of the issue. Some of cleaned up others haven’t by far the majority have not, and methadone hasn’t helped FIRST HAND TESTIMONIALS are a pretty good indicator. So what do you propose Bangorian, what would you like seen done? And by the way when I was in highschool the “back row kids: were the ones doing the drugs. I was by far the one of the front row ones you know the ones that kissed _____ and got gold stars. My opinion does not come from hate but from honesty. Case closed pull the plug on the issue.
I’m curious to know which religion you’re selling.
Since you asked – “what I would like to do” is base social policy decisions on scientific research, not on the opinions and biases of people who want to jam an pretend solution to a problem down our throats.
You win this argument. I’m bowing out gracefully. We want the same thing but how we execute are polar opposites for the sake of the people of Maine I hope our drug issues can be resolved soon.
Who exactly are these outside forces “pushing” methadone as the only treatment for opioid addiction? I highly doubt such forces exist; rather, it is people that lack knowledge about methadone treatment that assume/believe (based on no facts) that methadone is the gold standard of treatment.
In reality, methadone is a last ditch effort.
Based on no facts? How about the FACT that the success rate of MMT is much higher than that of any other treatment method for opiate addicts. It’s this fact, that it works so well to break an opiate addiction, that makes it considered to be the gold standard. This has been determined by scientists, clinic employees and patients alike. You can hardly say that these people lack knowledge about methadone treatment.
It works so great that two years does seem like a reasonable amount of time of treatment.
In many cases insulin therapy works great for diabetics. Let’s cap that at 2 years too, since it works so well.
Although I agree with your stance on this issue in general, I just do not think insulin and methadone are comparable. Insulin is needed to sustain life and although you could stretch your argument to say the same for methadone, it is still not the same thing. However, I do hope that this bill does not hinder those that need longer treatment. From what I have learned, addiction is very individualized and the treatment is as well.
I agree its comparing apples to oranges.
What should really be capped is the amount of time you YOU can post on this website.
Come now, let’s be polite to each other.
Good comparison
Depends on how well the brain’s neurotramitter system has healed.
Whether it is effective does not prove there are people pushing it. Methadone is a serious drug itself, and that is why traditional methods are used first. One always starts with the least invasive/risky intervention when caring for someone with any kind of problem.
I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to speak with someone who manages one of the methadone clinics in our state. According to him, anyone seeking (or being referred) for treatment must go through an extensive interview and history before being approved for treatment. If the person has not tried every other method of getting clean, they will not be approved. Facts do not get any better than straight from the source :)
this is indeed true as I have witnessed this myself
MMT is an Evidence Based Treatment proven by research to be the most effective treatment for opiate dependancy. This means combining counseling, medication and treatment for any medical and mental health disorders.
I don’t think the forces: Politicians, Lobbyists, Pharmaceutical Entities etc are pushing it as the only treatment.
But by and large they are over emphasizing its importance in the field of rehabilitating opioiod abusers. Like anything I just want a more balanced holistic approach and dialogue to this issue.
Best practice is that at least one other form of treatment be tried and fail before going on methadone.
“I’ll take drug related crime and emergency room usage because enough is enough.”
One of the most ignorant things I’ve read in this thread…
What are the alternatives? I’d rather take my chances then pay into a system that fails every time.
Enlighten me with your plan?
Maybe we all should i’ll whats left of our paychecks and donate it to the local done clinic and write it off as a charitable contribution. I stand by that statement because I understand the realities of this flawed system.
“I’ll take drug related crime and emergency room usage because enough is enough.” – you’ve obviously not been a victim yet, I hope for your sake you don’t, it is a horrible thing to go through
I won’t allow myself to be a victim. I can’t rely on the State to protect me its failed me so many times and i’m sure its failed you in many ways too.
Self reliance , self suffiency.
We should empower ourselves not to Fear addicts.
I’m sick of how society Fears these cowards.
There is nothing to fear these people are the weakest people physically and mentally because they
“chose” this lifestyle.
One person’s trauma often becomes another person’s drama unfortunantly.
There is a reason that addiction is so hard to conquer.
IT’S WORTH IT !
You obviously have never spent anytime with anyone at Acadia or been to the place. There is ALREADY an explosion of “drug related crime” as many of the patients at Acadia are court-ordered to use the services and have ZERO interest in stopping their addiction. Instead, they sell their drugs and continue to use anyway. Methadone treatment is a complete SCAM.
I agree completely. They have a name for people that support systems like this they are called ENABLERS.
Six figure psychologists,etc are feathering their nests.
It wont be the emergency room, it will be the morgue as more and more Mainers will protect what’s theirs. After a while the smart (if there are any)pill heads will go somewhere else.
No one is taking away their medication, just the funding for it. In 2 years a person should be able to get their life together enough to be able to fund their own recovery.
Rep. Sanborn is nothing but a flaming extremist….people must make a CHOICE to use heroin or any opiate recreationally for that matter, claiming that drug addiction is an unavoidable disease such as most cases of diabetes and other serious health afflictions is nothing but the most extreme of positions to take as public figure. And honestly a truly frightening position for a person who makes decisions regarding public policy.
We need to remove these radical, extremist ideologies from our local and state government positions, they have done enough damage to the innocent, and less fortunate in our society who need a hand up and an opportunity to rebuild their lives to prosperity, not a hand out and a contract from democrats to basically sign them up for a life of dependence and servitude, feeding the democrat’s shallow, short-run political whims.
Well said.
JT There is a lot of money involved. Doctors nurses psychologists and social workers benefit as do hospitals & clinics and agencies that aid in travel. There is a whole infrastructure built around having a large number of addicts.
Just breaks my heart. When are we the taxpayers of America going to say enough is enough already. How crazy are we paying for any treatment for self destructive behavior. Put em all on zombie island and let them sort it out themselves.
I think it would be nice to educate yourself on addictions…………..many people experiment with drugs and alcohol NOT everyone that does that becomes addicted. When that young teenager makes a choice to experiment……it’s a crap shoot as to if they will become addicted. In saying that, this is NOT self destructive behavior. Is eating meat, dairy and sugar self distructive? There is PROOF that these foods cause diseases……….”already.”
I bet your an addict ! People beat this everytday without tax payers money to furnish there habits. Clinics are fine but tax payers shouldn’t havve to pay for them!!!!
How about we just teach our children that they are RESPONSIBLE for there own CHOICES. Drug abuse is a CHOICE and choices have consequences. I think they should show every high school student the movie “Requiem For A Dream” if you make the choice to do heroin after that movie then you deserve the life you chose.
Overeating is a choice too but we don’t limit the medical professionals assessment in how to treat diabetes that results. This is divisive politics at its finest.
I’ll bet you are one of those who claims Obamacare is government run health care, too.
Oy! To be so misinformed. Obamacare is a private insurance based program where doctors decide what you need for treatment. This law is government telling doctors how to practice medicine. You cannot even see that you are being completely hoodwinked.
Up is down and down is up, right righties?
Hi Rex
I don’t buy your inference that disease (diabetes) is payback for the supposed abuse of free will. A lot of diabetes in kids is due to such crappy dietary choices they are presented with, not necessarily their fault per see.
Payback? Since when do we view disease as payback?
This may fit into the modern sociopaths view of justice but it offers nothing helpful. We treat these sick people because it costs us more not to. It has nothing to do with payback. Ugggh!
Drugs are a choice alcohol is a choice this is not a desiese its a choice and taxpayers should not have to pay for their choices
The problem is that treating drug addiction with another drug is about as effective as telling fat people that they can lose weight by simply taking a pill. Breaking any habit is tough. Stopping smoking is incredibly hard. Losing weight is hard. Taking methadone is not treatment. It’s postponement.
A person who goes to the clinics are taught how to break the habits that have brought them there, Its a change of life, no longer seeing “friends” or going to certain places, how to manage your money, what I don’t like to see while I am in the parking lot waiting for my husband are the people who at 9-12 are still in their pajamas, If they can’t get dressed, they shouldn’t get dosed. Oops I went off on a tangent lol
Overeating is a choice, but our government doesn’t subsidize folks with eating disorders with EBT cards to subsidize their obsessive compulsions!!! And yes, the EBT cards need to be regulated to lessen candy and junk foods and to include balanced diet choices.
No one is limiting treatment to addicts. We are simply saying we won’t pay for it. They are certainly free to pay for it themselves. Certainly in a society that says no to women having access to birth control (because the decision to have sex or not is personal) we can also say no to paying for someone’s methadone (because the decision to take illegal drugs is personal).
You will end up paying more. Frankly, you and your “me first” crowd deserve the terrible outcomes your short sighted and selfish policies would bring about.
America did not become a great nation and power with “me first” thinking. It is immoral to cast your neighbors aside so that you might have a few cents more. That was the attitude that built America and every other great benevolent empire in history.
I agree but the problem is that would require parents to actually be a parent.
drug use is a choice. drug abuse is a deficiency in coping mechanisms. parents that don’t teach these skills raise addicts. pot smokers, alcoholics, addictive gamblers, people with OCD and bulemia are all addicts that need treatment. these folks are no different.
however, the years and years of treatment to avoid the sick feeling associated with “going clean” is doing them no justice. when an overeater decides to change their lives, they must be an active participant in their “rehab”. feeling the pain is part of that activity. Why would one be likely to avoid repeat behaviors if the initial caused them little or no stress? The biggest stresser for these folks is that these clinics require UA and will not allow for marijuana use during suboxone and methadone treatments. well, just cause marijuana stays in your system for 30 days and cocaine is there for 3 while alcohol stays for 24 hours, isn’t an indication of it’s level of harm to ones life. If you can not be clean, you can not receive treatment. there is really only one drug that TRULY shows in tox screens, and it is nearly legalized. Treatment with suboxone and methadone should only be allowed for inpatient facilities. there is as much of a problem with the sale of these drugs on the street as there was with the initial drug….(all of which are manufacturered by a company making TONS of cash off the mental disabilities of much of our beautiful state). Correct me if i’m wrong but didn’t the stat win a suit against the makers of one of these drugs years and years ago? don’t hate the player, hate the game.
If 100% of people who eat carrots eventually die, do they see it coming?
Are you serious, drugs and alcohol are proven to be addicting and proven to cause many problems as well. Your choices in life affect not only you but the people around you, it’s all good and well to help others when they seek it, but when it was their choices that caused the problem at what point is enough enough. Two years is a long time, and if a doctor says a patient should stay in treatment that is fine, but if someone is abusing the system by just staying in it so they can get a legal fix, when do you make a determination to end their treatment. Are there people out there that never get better? How long is too long?
if they are dumb enough to “experiment” with the Hard drugs, the ones like Heroin that everyone, even Kids, know are seriously addicting, then they have to face the consequence of that choice, we all had it to make at one point or another, those of us with any sense at all chose Not to experiment with those substances
What’s sad here is that there are people in methadone treatment that are doing well in recovery, meaning they don’t use drugs and are living a healthy and legal lifestyle.
These are the ones that will suffer and they are your neighbors, friends and family.
They aren’t recovering.
They are simply holding their own.
Why are they “holding their own”and not in recovery
How are they in recovery if they are on the lifetime methadone bandwagon?
What’s a methadone bandwagon?
If that’s a Jeopardy question, my answer is: “What do Musicians travel in?”
Winner – true daily double !!
You are absolutley correct, my life would not be great like it is, if my husband had not gone to the clinic to get the help he needed.
Try watching that cute little series The Walking Dead to see how animated dead people are treated. Not much idfferent form the living I’de say.
YOU’RE VERY IGNORANT..AND UNEDUCATED..I CAN’T SAY IT ENOUGH
About time! 2 years seem plenty long enough for them to get wiened off it. I know of a lot of folks that truly wanted the help, and they got off all of it. And are drug free today.
this makes me mad that mainecare pays for this AT ALL
Sorry, don’t mean to sound cruel but the truth is this is 24 months too much in my book. With the education that is out there in todays society, these people have NO EXCUSE for becoming drug addicts anyway. Sorry, that’s tax payer money. Shouldn’t go to this.
don’t think you’re being cruel. We are all entitled to our opinons
This is too liberal… I think the gov’t needs to stop paying for people’s self inflicted health issues. If they stopped doing that, not only would people maybe smartin up but the state of Maine would be in less debt.
This is supporting drug use and should be discarded. Wasteful spending at its worst.
You’re right, and while we are at it lets get rid of meds for heart disease, certain types of adult onset diabetes, obesity, lung cancer, skin cancer, and any STD. After all why should we pay for someone who chose to have a poor diet, smoke, lay out in the sun, or have risky sex? It was there decisions that got them into the mess after all. Oh and since they CHOSE to work in the places they did lets add black lung and asbestosis to those conditions we won’t treat anymore.
Dane, I understand your point. I guess the issue is the shrinking tax base. Only 48 percent of all Mainers pay income tax. So, as the tax base shrinks but the budgetary demands grow, the question will always be, “How will we decide to spend our public fisc?” And the result of this shrinking pool of funds will be that society OF NECESSITY will make decisions about what it will, and will not fund. And persons who choose to become addicts will probably find themselves at the bottom of a long list of people seeking assistance. As the money gets tighter, I am sure you will see more and more people who will have to combat heart disease the old fashioned way–less salt, less red meat, more exercise, no smoking, lose weight, etc. People who suffer from smoking-related diseases will also find themselves bringing up the rear and rightfully so. We already have restrictions on women’s access to abortions (no fed. employees) and rightfully so–there are any number of effective means of birth control–the pill, condoms, etc. So, watch out. As the pool of tax payers shrinks, medical provisions for illnesses, diseases, and conditions that are self-induced or the result of stupid choices will probably not be funded. One would hope it would lead to wiser choices and more acceptance of personal responsibility.
i hear it’s about 140 bucks a week,and i believe its based on your income…not sure what he makes for money..friend of a friend …no insurance, pays out of pocket….i’m addicted to cigarettes,brother can you buy me some smokes….what a racket…
What?! Your post makes no sense.
Another short-sighted proposal which sounds good to some, but folks who have more than a 10th grade education know what the consequences will be, especially if they’ve studied addiction. Much MUCH more crime and many more emergency room visits that YOU will pay for no matter how much you pout. Do conservatives ever get to the roots of the problems? No, they just cut off the heads and watch new, larger ones grow.
It’s like ohmygod……..who are we going to sell expresso to if they close the methadone clinics?
To compare drug addiction to diabetes is an insult to my intelligence. Drug addiction is the direct result of deliberate, irresponsible, and selfish behavior. Diabetes, particularly the juvenile onset type, happens due to no fault of the patient. That my tax dollars are paying a single penny for drug addicts ticks me off. I suffer with chronic pain every day, yet I have managed to not abuse drugs. Give me a break.
WEll said! I agree totally
“Dr. Joseph Py, corporate medical director for Discovery House, which runs methadone clinics in Maine and several other states, said the longer patients are in treatment, the better they do.”
Discovery House, that is !
Well, I have an idea to get people off drugs. Instead of methodone why don’t we have a jail made for drug abusers only. When your caught you sit in a cell till your clean. I know a person who has been on methodone for 12 years.
thats horrible for someone to be on methodone for 12 years. that is ridiculous if you ask me. I think if the drug abusers were made to pay for it themselves they would quit really quick
once a addict you have that ddiction for life
Spoken like someone that read the mission statement of Acadia and Discovery House today!
So does that mean they must use?
I vote for a 1 year cap !
And, if there is a relapse we bill them for that year’s treatment.
If it’s a success then we forgive the bill.
I vote for no days! Where’s all these parents of these little druggies? If thanks to Obama I am forced to keep my non-addict kid on our insurance till she is 26 then how many of these parents should be footing this bill and not the taxpayer. Did you know as soon as they hit the front desk of the Meth clinic they fill out the papers get the Mainecare and the FOODSTAMPS AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT GOES WITH IT ???? Yea!! Cut ALL of them under 26 off make their parents pay and cut the rest to 30 days.
As long as my child lives in my home, I feel I have an obligation to them, when they move out and start doing stupid things that I have repeatedly warned them against, they’re on their own. Don’t come to me with a bill. 18 is the legal age in this state.
” I vote for a 1 year cap !
And, if there is a relapse we bill them for that year’s treatment.
If it’s a success then we forgive the bill.”
That’s about the dumbest, most ignorant comment I’ve heard in a while. People remain in treatment to avoid relapsing. The medication keeps the symptoms of addiction at bay. Remove it and the symptoms come back. There is a 90% relapse rate for people who stop methadone treatment after 1 year. Those numbers go down the longer they stay in treatment. But the numbers are best for those who are currently in treatment. 60-80%, depending on the clinic, of people in methadone treatment are free from addiction and live normal life. But you think we should kick these people out of treatment causing 90% to relapse. Does that make sense to you? You can either have 60-80% clean or you can have 10% clean. You think we should choose the latter. That’s pretty dumb.
90% relapse? That’s quite a success rate.
Might be becuase their brain’s neuorotramitter system hasn’t heal. And it might never
i received a letter routine eye exams every three years my eye doctor called me for mainecare
One question please……………..What?
If you are looking for a place to cut some spending, look no further, pretty soon everyone will be drug addicted to keep their benefits, don’t worry after that 2 year cap they will stay on by getting the provider and DHHS to stick to an extension and ongoing treatment.
Methadone treatment is nothing but a scam anyway.
Have NEVER YET met any “former” methadone users.
It’s not as though everybody likes to disclose their health problems to others, especially strangers.
Oh, how untrue. Just met a man yesterday who told me he’s been on methadone for six years. I meet people ALL THE TIME who tell me they have been on methadone for many years. When I ask them when they will get off it, they all tell me they are on a maintenance dose.
Yeah, right…
So you doubt what I say? Go to the bus stop outside Acadia any day of the week and ask any of the people waiting there for the bus, smoking their cigs, how long they’ve been on methadone. Oh, that’s right. You might actually learn the truth. Easier to blog and call the rest of us with direct firsthand experience liars.
So you talk of going to the bus stop of a mental hospital and then use what you say you found there to be the truth everywhere and for most people.
So how many people you pass at Walmart suddenly break out into song about their methadone treatment? Not many, if any. The same would be true at the Bangor Mall, etc.
But then, you think a message board is a blog…
Tired of hearing that opiate addiction is a “disease” accompanied by the rhetoric “You wouldn’t take insulin away from a diabetic”..”You wouldn’t take chemotherapy away from a cancer patient”…When was the last time you heard of a diabetic or a cancer patient holding up a pharmacy?? An addiction is not a disease, it’s an ADDICTION!
Fred if the need arises you are welcome to my insurance pd. for chemo. I wouldn’t give that ********** to my dog. Maybe my x husband though!
Boy that’s nice. Joking or not if a guy says he might give it to his e-wife it would be flagged and removed. So much for equal rights.
Lets go with your logic… Cancer isn’t a disease, it it the mutation of cells, often times caused by certain behaviors like smoking or taking too many naps in a tanning bed. And since addiction, like the cancer can have a genetic link, why does the skin cancer patient or even a heart patient who has live on grease for years, get the meds and sympathy of society and not the addict?
about damn time! Giving more methadone and having no plan to wean doesn’t help an addict. We don’t buy alcoholics a couple gallons of booze each week. You give them help with the goal of not drinking again.
it’s about time they put a limit on this crap. I think it’s just trading one drug for another.
I bet if they had to pay for it themselves they would be off of the drugs a lot sooner.
Don’t count on it. They would just find a way to steal it.
It’s a start but way too little way too late.
I’m SORRY, but getting someone hooked on one drug——to get off of another drug—-makes no sense to me, and don’t hand me the “you don’t understand addiction” B.S. because I do. This is nothing more than a money making ball of twine. Again, I’m sorry, but 2 years is about 22 months too long for me.
On drugs, these people are not productive members of society. They can’t take care of their children, feed themselves, or hold down jobs, so the state has to spend millions of dollars to intervene and provide for them. Or, they can pay for one prescription and these people can keep their kids, feed their families and work for a living. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Make sure you cut off their FOODSTAMPS and TANF too! And cut off all under 26 and send their parents the bill for services already rendered!
One Doctor Gets them addicted with years of pain killers, and another treats them for years with another drug.. Really big money in Maine. Follow the $$$$ and you find the real problem.. There is no reason half these pain killers are legal in the first place… a bag of weed is just as effective as a bottle of pills. Something is wrong if that many people are in pain…
One day I had to go to the er for an accident, I was asked if I wanted something for pain, when I said no it felt like the whole place went quiet. I was then over and over at least 3 times, my answer was the same… yet they wrote me a script anyway before I left.. I threw it into the wood stove..
It is too easy to get narcotic and opiate pain killers. Doctors and dentists hand out the prescriptions when, in many cases, they could suggest ibuprofen and tylenol instead.
i dont’ know about you, but my doctor doesn’t like to give out anything. i have severe back problems and sometimes ibuprofen/NSAIDS don’t work. i am not addicted to the “other drugs” by any means cause I can go without them, but sometimes it makes it really hard to function and even walk. but you are right some places it is too easy to get pain killers.
Drug addiction is complex. I agree that people choose to try drugs in the first place, unfortunately that sucks. We also pay the bill for many people who smoked until they got lung cancer or drove drunk and are now disabled. At least people on methadone can hold down a job while on treatment and work. Drug addicts lose jobs and become a burden on society in full, not in part. I would rather see money going toward people who are trying to help themselves than toward people who would rather live off society.
Dr. Joseph Py, corporate medical director for Discovery House, which
runs methadone clinics in Maine and several other states, said the
longer patients are in treatment, the better they do.
I’d put more stock in an opinion that didn’t come from someone whose income is vested in long-term benefits for methadone patients.
Don’t forget that he’s backed up by the pharmacutical companies and endorsed by the congressmen and senators which they help to elect. Now ther’s another group ( politicians ) abusing the system. Term limits , just like treatment limits , would do this country some good !
But Dr. Py is the doctor, Naran. You seem to have warmed to the idea of having the government decide care, haven’t you? I guess you got up on the big government side of the bed this morning!
I guess if you are one of the dirty people, the government should ration your care, right? I will await your spin on how this position is not inconsistent with your stand against Obamacare. This should be interesting.
Two years to late…
It seems to me that methadone treatment programs should be designed to get addicts to the point of being able to support themselves and pay for their own drug treatment after 24 months (or less!). Instead, these publicly-supported programs seem to encourage perpetual dependence. While I understand that some addicts may need more than two years of support, the taxpayer shouldn’t be responsible for that.
-kjhjkdbfxvbxdfc
Good god, both this article and the replies and in general so incredibly
ignorant, upsetting, and depressing that I don’t even know what to
think. I’m a longtime opiate addict who tried repeatedly to get clean
for ten years and failed over and over and over and over again. I never
wanted to accept the disease model, but despite being an intelligent
and responsible human being who could clearly see the harm I was doing
to myself and to others through my drug abuse, I was utterly powerless
to stop it. It kept overtaking me ceaselessly.
About a year ago I checked into methadone treatment, and it has been the
*only* thing that has effectively treated and managed my addiction.
This last year has been inarguably the greatest year in my life, because
I’ve finally been able to take ahold of my life, get clean, begun to
fix myself and my relationships, and slowly piece everything back
together. I would not have been able to do it without methadone. I
know some of you view the “diabetic/insulin” comparison as BS, and at
one point I did too… But it’s absolutely valid. As long as I take my
medication everyday, my drug addiction is treated and kept in check
through medication. It is not “liquid heroin,” I do not “get high”
from taking my dose of methadone. When you are already an opiate
addict, you don’t respond to the drug in that way. It’s simply
medication that both keeps me from getting sick, and keeps me from
taking any other drug.
And you know what? I have never been on MaineCare/Medicaid/whatever. I
have always worked, and I pay my own way entirely at the methadone
clinic – about $100 every week, all out of my pocket. I pay my taxes just like
everything else. And if this bill passes, it could very well result in
responsible, upstanding taxpayers such as myself who just want their
medication (which I feel absolutely entitled to given the disease I
suffer from) losing access to it. Because this bill alone could make
methadone clinics around the state shut down, due to profitability
reasons. Because the state refuses to actually pay for these clinics,
you see (due to draconian and ignorant laws that make no sense in the
first place) all the clinics are for-profit. And these clinics have
profit margins that hang on the RAZORS EDGE. It’s a very precarious
situation. If they cease to turn a profit they can and will just shut
down and move to a state that wants them, utterly screwing over people
like myself who never “stole” any money from you goddamn conservative
taxpayers who are so anti-addict.
Anyway, that’s my $.0.02. Frankly, this news (and a lot of these
comments) makes me ashamed and embarrassed to be not only a Mainer, but
an America. God forbid any of you saints casting stones at the rest of
us happen to live in glass houses. *rolls eyes*
Technically, doctors in private practice can prescribe methadone, though it may be more expensive than the clinic setting. Best of luck to you in continuing your road to recovery; I know it isn’t an easy one.
It sounds hard hearted buddy, but you made a stupid choice. Why should I pay for your stupidity?
I’m sorry for anyone who will suffer, but I agree with firecapp66, why should the taxpayers (such as myself) have to pay because someone made the choice to do heroin in the first place? We all have choices, it’s time people own up to the consequences of their choices.
Having a disease isn’t much of a choice. The main reason for my drug abuse has to do with child abuse, though, and the fact that I was sexually abused from age 3 until age 7, which did a bit of a number on me emotionally. My drug usage was always tied up in the trauma from that, and in finding ways to escape. In fact, a great number of serious opiate abusers suffered abuse as children, sexual or otherwise. Mine happened to be particularly awful, for whatever reason.
I’m perfectly accountable for my choices, and I realize that I’ve made mistakes. But despite any mistakes I may have made, I believe that I have the right to be treated for any illnesses that I have. Anything less is just awful. If you believe that people “choose” what tragedies befall them in life, and that they should suffer for them, and that taxpayers have no obligation to provide indirect funding to helping anyone in need whatsoever, then more power to you. You’re a serious hardcore liberterian and I disagree strongly with your views, but it’s your right. You should also understand that it makes you a tremendous radical and far outside the mainstream of American society – certainly not representative of the wishes of the majority of moderates who live in Maine who *d0* want to see the less fortunate among us do something other than die in gutters.
You seem to be mssing the point that the state will continue to pay for up to two years of treatment and if someone can proove that the treatment is working may get an extension. In your case you have documented well that the treatment is working and would continue. I don’t think the treatment centers are going to shut down because the state no longer foots the bill. The truely concerned centers and doctors will continue to provide treatment. Your fears seem to outweigh your recovery. Have a little faith !
I wish you continued success.
I’m glad you have success but how would your accessibility be threatened if Maine Care didn’t pay for it?As you say,you’re paying out of pocket(rare and commendable)Good luck to you.
you are the few that actually pay for the methadone. and I congratulate you on your success, but i am may be wrong, but i may be right, you aren’t necessarily “clean” if you are still on a form of drugs right? and i have seen some on methadone that are high, don’t ask me how, but they are. I will pray for your sobriety and a great fulfilling life :)
It’s about time someone presented a plan for getting people off this stuff.
I’m all for helping people, but switching people to a different drug with similar effects, funding it and then not putting a hard end date on it is ridiculous.
As it is right now, we’re encouraging people to be junkies.
Speaking of addicts. Is it just me, or does that guy in the photo look just like Rash Limpmind?
2 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!,i think 6 months should be fine.i was addicted,and you know what,ya have to bite the bullet and just stop,grow up its called.you have to want to quit,not go and get a free high.most of the people i know that go there have no intentions of quitting and are doing other stuff besides the free drug.the clinic does nt test no where’s often enough,from the mouth of someone who goes there.
The Republican party of Maine actively promotes gambling and alcohol use but gets all high and mighty about drug addicts.
How about some comments about Gorham making the comparison of a drug addict, picking up an illegal drug addiction to people with diabetes. If that was a republican making that comment, there would be people screaming about how incorrect that was.
Hey…what about just doing what they did in the good old days and just stop it. This programs is a scam and I bet 95% of the addicts go back to useing. They clinic doesn’t even kick people out if they smoke pot while in the program. A local user here in Lubec smokes it on a daily bases and doesn’t get kicked out. Something is wrong with this picture
Two years to find a way to support yourself is long enough !
Just another load of crapola. Close them now…but the powers that be would lose money..:)
To firecap,66, no park and other likeminded losers.
Your attitude is the ultimate in a desolating lack of compassion for your brothers and sisters in this life. Were you raised in a religious family? Did your parents or clergy ever profess to know the difference between tough love and tough S**t? As a practical response to pandemic drug abuse in Maine , as a way of life vs the golden rule, you and your like minded compatriots on this string are as striking a group of abject failures as any of your drug ravaged fellow citizens you so effortlessly denigrate. What is wrong with clergy and educators, and parents that breed and educate such disappointing communicants , citizens and family as you.
Compassion? How about responsibility and accountability? How about people acting like grown adults? Real compassion is doing the right thing – getting these people OFF the substance so they can live a fruitful life. Advocates of methadone clinics are just hurting these people more and creating and industry that enables bad behavior.
Your babbling tells me that you really need to get into some sort of treatment program.
Discovery House perhaps?
Another example of an ex state cop – david burns- using his powers to control the sheep
This is the problem when we give Methadone for free. Crime will rise. These people will do anything to get it.
Only in Maine would people argue for their perceived “right” to meth for their self inflicted stupid habit. Liberals enabling drug addicts makes for a horrible dysfunctional mix that those of us who actually pay taxes are sick of. I seriously doubt anyone at the methadone clinic paid in to federal or state taxes this year.
check other states-the treatment has been around for 50+ years
What breaks my heart is that some of these people have been on it for 15 to 20 years and they’re still on it…what r they going to do for those people…they kept people on these drugs so they would have a job…now look whats they have done…don’t blame the addicts..I have been complaining to the state and the clinics for years and they wouldn’t talk with you. I tried to get REAL help for family members but they chose to ignore others cry…I blame the State for this and I knew this was coming one day
Methadone is another way to enable the drug addicts to continue, all you are doing is replacing one drug for another. Medicaid recipients can’t pay for the drug on the street so now they have found a way to get the supply, free!…time to look at other avenues to treat these addicts, like (cold turkey) that is what was done before!!!…and the politicians are part of the problem, creating laws, voting on them and then the little people have to pay for their decisions. Maine Medicaid is one of the largest used state agencies in the US, and who is paying for this? It’s not the drug addicts, it’s not the politicians, it’s the little guy (ME!). The state needs a hugh overhaul of the Medicaid program along with the politicians who created the mess to begin with.
We pay for their treatment, and give them all gas money to travel to get their treatment. Does not make sense to me to pay someone to do drugs. The ones around our town also have medical care and food stamps. Stop the nonsense NOW, not 2 years from now. If you can’t stay off the drugs and get a job, don’t expect any more handouts from us working people!
APPLAUSE!And comparing a voluntary addiction and poor life choices to diabetes is absurd.
I have heard of people on methodone trading it for their drug of choice. In those cases, the state is buying one drug that they trade for another. Not right.
?Recovering addicts take regular doses of methadone to curb cravings as they go through therapy. The dosing and length of treatment varies widely, depending on the individual, and can go on for years.? that’s a load of bull, they are required to meet with their therapist for 15 minutes one time a month, sometimes less, at Discovery house, doesn’t seem like much treatment going on there.
Rep. Sanborn, also as a retired health care professional I can attest that feeding the habit is not the answer. You should not be comparing a diabetic to a drug addict. Everyone has a choice in life and those who know how to work the system do.
The taxpayers nor the state need to be supporting this addiction. The majority of them do not work, have housing, fuel and food assistance. Why, all because they are addicts. Do we open up alcohol centers so if someone feels their going off the wagon,they can stop in to a clinic and have a sip. Sounds insane, right? Now do you get the point.
Rep. Burns, you have my vote!
good news people need to get weened off the crap. when they get busted and thrown in the pokie they get the cold turkey treatment along with there smoking habit.yes the first week is hell but after that the poison is out of there system and then its there choose.not to many druggies dont get busted, but after getting clean alot seems to go back to it.
I have to agree with bigchuckie, Methadone is not a cure, all it does is replace the herion or other opiate. This means you are still on the opiates and not clean and sober. These are a cash cow for the people running them as it would make no sense at all to get people off the replacement drug.
It’s about time!
methadone has about a 1% success rate. Why bother?
It depends on your definition of success. Ending addiction entirely may be a easy goal to understand but there are other results that are beneficial even if the methadone dependence continues.
Every day a heroin addict is not shooting the stuff into their veins, they are reducing their chances of contracting hepatitis and HIV. These diseases cost far more than methadone to treat. The model is called harm reduction. Some of the most effective behavioral interventions are harm reduction based. The least effective interventions are law enforcement interventions.
You say you are a recovered addict and yet you emerge with absolutely no ability to understand what other addicts are going through. Every person is different. What worked for you won’t work for the next ten people. Why do you seem to think you and the legislature know better than the doctor what will help another the most?
Great points, and I am actually very compassionate to others that have the disease of addiction. I also know that more then half really dont want to get better. Also, you say let Doctors decide… well, these clinics are not doctors, they are for profit addiction mills or legal drug dealers (most of them).. real PCP (primary care physicians) do know better the any legislator, I agree. The problem is giving it away for free to people who don’t want to try… there needs to be some kind of laws in place to stop the abuse of the treatment… yes the treatment drugs can and are widely abused. No clinic with bars over the windows and lines out front can treat a patient like a PCP. I am in full agreement that anything is better than the alternative, and give full support to those who want to get better… thats is really the most important ingredient to success. There has to be a drive and focus there, not free and easy.
If they are dispensing medications, they are overseen by a doctor. That doctor has treatment guidelines and regimens that he, in his professional opinion, deems appropriate.
This law will deprive treatment to both those who do and don’t want to get better. It does nothing to address any problem. Even the budget will suffer in the end.
I get what you are saying… look I am not advocating cutting anyone off treatment. I just have seen first hand what these “treatment” facilities are all about. It is not the patient but the profit. There aren’t enough structures put in place for anyone in a government funded program to be successful.. Instead, it teaches more dependency. I work in the medical field, and “overseen by a doctor” does not mean that a doctor is consulting with each patient, but instead a patient chart that can easily be manipulated by the patient in intake sessions with an MA. I am all for treatment and support anyone who is trying to get clean… it is no easy task. I do understand that alot of people do not have the support structure, upbringing, and menatl capacity that I did, but those people need to be in some kind of inpatient care, not given a 15 minute intake, provided with a narcotic substitue, and turned loose with instructions to follow up in x amount of days to repeat the process. Once the jump is made at the end of taper, there are non-narcotic drugs that will ease them through the withdrawals that we all feared with our lives that i don’t beleive are administered at these clinics, and it will almost automatically result in relapse.
test
Wait a minute. I thought republicans did not want government involved in making health care decisions. Now we have legislators, who admittedly are not physicians, determining the course of treatment for those with a health problem. Does anyone else see that this smacks of big government?
This is a penny wise, pound foolish approach. The social costs of having addicts out of treatment walking the streets are much higher than the costs of providing the treatment.
When will we ever learn? After 30 years of the war on drugs, no progress. That is because we are trying to fix the problem with the wrong tool set. Drug addiction is a health issue primarily. It is only a law enforcement issue as long as we chose to apply this frame to thinking about it. That frame has proven absolutely ineffective.
We should be steering more towards treatment. This will reduce dependency on assistance programs in the long run. This will reduce crime related to drug abuse. This will potentially save lives. This is the only societal intervention that ever works, even if it does not work in every case.
So now republicans want to restrict the care a doctor provides a patient by deciding what gets covered and what has limitations applied. I thought you wanted those dirty government hands out of the doctors office! This reveals the real truth. The republican approach to governing is to allocate government resources to those they deem worthy. Lies and deception and situational ethics. This party has hypocrisy as the center piece of its platform.
Just picture it…………..A woman is raped, both legs broken in the attack, becomes addicted to pain pills and then is found to be pregnant. We have heard it from the Republicans, the rape is a gift from god, she should have had health care so they want to leave her on the sidewalk, if they do treat her, it is her personal responsibility to have enough money to live until she can work, no government help, and have that gift from god on her own dime and doing it while withdrawing from medication.
Now a guy that has a heart attack playing football when fat and fifty should have those dirty union thug ambulance drivers show up, the ER should be ready with no wait, and more dirty union thug nurses should run to his every whim because ……………….why?
Must bet that “loving god” they claim to hear.
Dr. Joseph Py, corporate medical director for Discovery House, which runs methadone clinics in Maine and several other states, said the longer patients are in treatment, the better HIS CHECKBOOK DOES.
There, fixed that for you.
After exhaustive studies over 10 years, the State of New York stopped paying for methadone clinics. The action was taken due to the poor outcomes experienced by a majority of users.
Funny as that was the state that Dole and Nyswander did the research and the first clinic was developed.
True; First in first out.
Suboxone saved my life. After 2 years of suboxone treatment (paid for myself) I am now VERY successful, and have a wonderful life. The real issue is self-commitment. No body addicted to anything will EVER quit unless they really want to inside themselves. Has nothing to do with the crumby clinics, or state mandates. Really these clinics (alot of them) dont care about the outcome they just want the money. The messed up thing is this:
If you have a job and pay for the treatment yourself, it will set you back about 250 a week. If you decide to quit your job, and go on Maine care/state care, you get it free. Wheres the F*cking incentive there? The more of a low life loser you are the more available treatment and the less it costs? How about you help the people that are actually trying to contribute to society? Instead of giving tax payer money away, why don’t they try a matching funds of people that are trying to work and pay for themselves? Whatever you pay, the state will contribute to help you towards your recovery? Its just absolutely rediculous that we (taxpayers) give money away to people who don’t even attempt to work and fend for themselves. Also, its about time to stop these “pain clinics” from writing unnecessary prescription pain pills that get good people like myself addicted to the stupid things in the first place.
Want a job? Very great points. I can see you are someone that has been there and has the desire and will to stay clean for the right reason…life!
I have a career already, but I am always open to options! LOL! I actually design and develop medical software, and one of the most popular customized software applications I design are for suboxone treatment. Pretty funny how the good lord works aint it?
It sure is. All for a reason that is beyond our imagination or control. All I know is that whenever He comes back I want to be ready to go.
Ah the good Doctor states: ‘the longer patients are in treatment (methadone) the better they do’. Actually, they can’t work … because they zone out and can cause potential harm to themselves or to others in the work place. As they fail to tell you …. the staff at these clinics can increase their dosage amounts. It’s up to the patient to tell them specifically that they want to be weaned off the drug. They do not do it authomatically at these clinics …… why? “Ka-ching” $$$$$$$$
Did you also know that the Statre of Maine reimburses individuals up to $870.00 a month in transportation costs so these patients can get to the treatment center. Guess who pays?
This is a money making business ….. there is no serious planning in getting patients weaned off the drug. Do they offer meetings at these treatment centers – NO.
It’s time to close them down …. not keep building more.
Newborns of addicted mothers are also addicted. They are not given 2 years of methadone treatment. They go through a fast and swift withdrawal after birth and they suffer terribly.
This law exempts patients under a physician’s care. It pertains (as I read it) only to clinics operated for the sole purpose of distributing Methadone.
That’s right.
Private docs prescribing methadose tablets can continue to do for for pain management only, not to treat opiate dependancy.
don’t expect many docs to do this as it’s a delicate and nervous dance for them.
I suspect pediatricians treating addicted babies won’t experience any “nervous dance.
The Republican party of Maine actively promotes gambling and alcohol use but gets all high and mighty about drug addicts.
Well maybe you should look a little more into the Republican party. Most republicans are pro private buisness and pro freedom.
Did it ever occur to you that many people with an (R) after their name actually care more about people than those with a (D). We know drug use will kill people quicker, destroy families and careers and we want what is best for all, not just the wealthy. This is while the dems just say, keep them drugged, keep them living of the government giving them no self esteem, keep subsidizing their addictions at no cost, keep aborting those babies, ETC….I will take my party anyday.
alcohol consumption in the United States reached $223.5 billion in 2006 .
The cost of alcohol consumption in the United States reached $223.5 billion in 2006
The costs largely resulted from losses in workplace productivity (72% of the total cost), health care expenses for problems caused by excessive drinking (11% of total), law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses related to excessive alcohol consumption (9% of total), and motor vehicle crash costs from impaired driving (6% of the total).
….and your answer to that is…. Prohibition? That worked real well last time. The other possibility is you prefer alcohol to drugs, which of course is your right.
This prohibition on drugs isn’t working either yet our prisons are full of other wise non-violent people who’s only crime was using illegal drugs instead of the legal ones.
As I said above I am in favor of allowing adults to put anything in their bodies they wish. You sir are preaching at the choir. I have also said repeatedly (over many years) that the prison system is too costly, and not working. I personally believe only those people convicted of physical victimization of others (murder rape child molestation armed robbery, threatening bodily harm) should be jailed. people guilty of non-violent crime should be put to labor until the victim is paid double his loss.
The problems aren’t just at home either. The illegal drug trade with the west generates huge sums of money for terrorists and violent gangsters.
Of course the Democrats like John Baldacci hate gambling and alcohol consumption. Hold on. Wait a minute. Didn’t Baldacci’s restaurant have a bar? Didn’t John support Hollywood slots (so long as it was only in Bangor?)
Republicans do not “promote” drunk driving (it is perfectly legal to drive on Methadone) or casino robbery. I have read their entire platform both State and National and see NOTHING promoting alcohol use or theft.
I agree adults should be allowed to use any drug they wish… I just don’t wantto pay for their irresponsibility.
So where do you see that Democrats promote drug abuse?
We have a Republican alcoholic in the Blaine house now and you can easily see the devastation he is causing his friends and family.
Being a user of Waldo County Transportation, I’ve seen a lot of abuse of the system. The people that go to the different clinics are usually there to swap their pill of the day for someone else’s. They do this in the parking lots of theclinics. They ride the bus for free and get meds for free. They get food stamps and child care paid for as well. I have to pay to ride the bus, don’t get food stamps,and am too old to need child care. My point is, I pay for what they get for free and so do you. They laugh about the latest stay at the county jail or the visit from DHHS. Spend the money they get on other drugs, etc. Why should we all pay for their treatment if they aren’t getting better and do not want to?
Would you want to swap your life for theirs? You have dignity, morals, pride and many other great lifelong qualities that you can share with your children if you have any, they can not. Keep your head up high, you will live longer and be much happier. The free ride in this country is going to go away much faster then it took to get us here, that’s a promise.
Its about time something was done to end the free high at taxpayers expense for those deadbeats. I would cap this program at 6 months If a person cant clean up by then out you go. I know of some people who have been in this program over 10 years! Thats quite the free ride in my book
Next the operators of these “clinics” should be required to show real figures for employed clients Now that would be a scary sight
The Suboxone black marketeers hate to hear this…how much of this State funded substance is diverted to the street every year?
Still way too long, but finally a good idea. That is more than long enough for us to support their habit.
It should be gotten rid of…… We should save ALL the money..
Are you kidding me? I had a friend killed by a woman who just got her methadone and it is not illegal in ME to drive, she was never charged with anything. NOTHING. Thought she hit a dog, no JUSTICE FOR TOMMY who was thr0wn 70 feet and you want US to pay for it? I had no idea, maybe you could atleast take their license while taking this crap.
Can’t wait for the higher crime rates this will produce. Think crime is bad now? Wait until addicts need their fix and don’t have a legal means to get it. I’m pretty sure that methadone is cheaper than incarceration coupled with the fallout from the crimes these people will commit to feed their illness.
So reward people for crimes against themselves? Sorry, we are not responsible for other people’s choices and if they elect to participate in dangerous activities, then they can look in the mirror.
Gun ownership in Maine is increasing. Most new owners give “home protection” as the reason for the gun purchase. Now we are ready for a REAL war on drugs.
RIGHT ON!
ITS NOT UP TO US AS TAXPAYERS TO FUND THEIR ADDICTIONS OR TREATMENT.
There are addicts on methadone who sell or trade their doses – it’s widely available on the street! Addictive behaviors are not cured by the availability of more addictive substances. You can’t legislate behavior, only consequences. There is little incentive for recovery when the cost of “drugs” is free and makes easy commerce. Just ask anyone who drives these people to clinic – you should hear the conversations!!! Again, our tax dollars at work… :-(
Gawd what a bunch of poo poo. Addiction is NOT usually a disease unless serial speeding, robbery, and assault are diseases. The way common addiction becomes a disease is if the addiction occurred from prescribed drugs, given to a person under care of a physician.
Most addiction occurs when a person decides he/she will indulge in drugs for the sole purpose of getting high. I fully support an adult’s right to put ANYTHING into their body they wish. I do NOT support the idea that taxpayers should be forced to pay for withdrawal when the “highs” aren’t as pleasent.
Two years is too long. Close the methadone clinics, all of them, now.
Good Harry! When they close them and release about 5000 drug fiends into the state looking for an emergency high. I hope the first house they ransack and rob is yours for prescription drugs!
Don’t use drugs prescription or otherwise… and I’m armed.
be accountable for your actions, you do drugs, you dry yourself out. Explain to me why I should pay for your ignorance…entitlement, entitlement, entitlement. Go LePage !!!
Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members — the last, the least, the littlest.” Cardinal Roger Mahony 1998
Big difference between needing and thieving…
And quoting a member of the Catholic Church, who has repeatedly engaged in frustrating law enforcement and prosecution efforts to bring child sexual molesters to justice is supposed to bring that statement credibility????
My wife used to work at Acadia…I would pick her up fo lunch everyday, at that same time there were people there for their daily dose of Methadone. I cant tell you how many times i was almost run into by these people leaving the hospital…THEY ARE INTOXICATED BEHIND THE WHEEL AND ITS TOTALLY LEGAL. I know people who use it as a form of recreation on a daily basis and we pay for it. enough is enough.
Sounds more than fair to me.
At Acadia everyone makes out! They make big bucks on Methadone patients. Then the patients make big bucks on Lynx and transportation through Penquis Cap etc. Penquis Cap actually gives them a gas check based on mileage every month. So they use an address as far from the clinic as they can. No one checks this. Then Acadia charges you for a clinical visit at the rate of one hour a week. This hour lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. They get over $100.00 from Mainecare for the hour per patient/customer. Then as often as they want or the patient, they need a doctor to come in every single time you make a dose change. Just a hint folks that is way over a $100.00 a month. He doesn’t always see you. He just writes the order in a chart. Now times that by oh say 1000 legalized drug addicts. I know I spent four years there. One day I crawled up the steps to the clinic so sick I wanted to die. They were going to switch me to they’re new money maker Suboxone. They let me get so sick on purpose by switching the meds early. I couldn’t even move the next day so I didn’t go. When I crawled back up the stairs that day I was greeted by Brent Scobie, Jeanie Wypiski, and Matthew Nutt. They gleefully informed me that Suboxone was no longer an option but. . . . Methadone still was. I was so angry I put two fingers up in the air and said “ you are doing this on purpose aren’t you”. One actually looked at me smugly as they ushered me ahead of other patients into the methadone dosing room. Then I lost it. I turned around and proceeded very slowly for the door out. They refused to unlock it. So in a very un-proud moment I made such a scene in the corridor that I knew the police would at least take me to jail and out of there. Jail was a better option then the handcuffs they had me in. They never called police that day. They did unlock the door and I crawled proudly back out. Then I detoxed it has been 4 years sober, after my 4 years there. So thank god they capped it at 24 months. Because Acadia Hospital won’t help you to get to a better place, unless it involves Methadone and staying locked in there. Maine has to stop blaming the patients and put some focus on the providers. They are causing the tax issues. Before anyone passes judgment I did have a job and payed taxes, it was a minimum wage job. I qualified for Mainecare and took it, I claimed zero on my taxes and made peanuts. Clearly I couldn’t afford an HMO on minimum wage and pay rent.
People still believe that Mainecare is capable of paying for things?
I know a few people that are in methadone clinics, and the difference between the way there life and the life of there families is now and the way it was when they were on other drugs is greatly better. Most of them have steady jobs and are really committed to being clean. I am glad that they have gotten help for there addiction but I do believe that Methadone is just as addictive if not more additive then heroin. I also think that two years should be enough time for some addicts but not all. Methadone is a hard drug to come off of…people stay in clinics as long as they do because they are scared that they will have to go though withdrawls again and will end up back in the awful position that were in to being with. Crap situation all around!!
Please read the article more closely.
The methadone proivider needs to request ahead of time with documentation of why further treatment is needed after 2 years. This is quite vague and can either work for or against the provider. This will depeand how the MaineCare system with Office of Substance Abuse that reviews requests for “Waivers” of the Maine Care regulations.
So how will it be determined if a patient needs longer treatment?
If based somewhat upon urine test results, it will indeed disqualify patient with polysubstance abuse; esp benzodiapines, alcohol and of course cannabis.
So it would naturally follow, that anyone that is consistently testing negative for all illegal drugs and is only taking their daily Rx of methadone, could have an argument built to provide a Waiver to keep them in treament.
Course there will be some providers that will creatively develop a program of 2 years with methadone treatment followed by a 2 year stepdown program of Suboxone. This would still be a barrier to treatment.
Either way, the new bill will negatively impact Opiate Replacement Treatment as we know it.
Why is Mainecare paying for Methadone? and how much is being paid for by tax payers!!! Someone needs to wake up and smell the roses!!!!!!
EXACTLY
LePage was elected. And things are a changing. Beautiful ain’t it?
I vote for a Methadone clinic in Blue Hill… Throw in a Pot
dispensary and homeless shelter for good measure. The socialists and trust fund lib’s care more
than you and I right??? Let them deal with the freakinn mess! They are all for the
“cause” when it’s someone else’s money or neighborhood. I’ll drive my
mommy’s Volvo over to the ground breaking ceremony…. Bring my bandana wearing
dog and play hacky sack while listening to the Grateful Dead.
my goodness…………..
Neurotransmitter deficiency addiction disease is not something made up, no more than cancer or diabetes, heart disease, liver disease or a host of other aliments that afflict so many people; who among us is without a medical problem?
I pray that this law has another solution to curing this disease besides the obvious which is to expand the drug war and funnel monies to courts, cops and corrections.
This is a sales pitch to increase a share in the marketplace to increase profits. Can anyone see this?
I agree addiction is a disease, but what makes it so horrible & hard for us NON-addicts to deal with, is that it is a disease you do to yourself…..it is your choice to use drugs or not….& knowing that addiction is sure to follow, these people use drugs anyway. They end up with the disease of addiction, but it is self inflicted, & it is hard to have patience with that.
I think the chances are pretty good its going to pass anyway. How many people at the clinic even know this bill exists?
They likely read the papers we hope
These are people with an illness not to be demonized. People with diabetes could be viewed as being addicted to sugar and are responsible for there consumption and ultimately their disease and their demise. Should we not fund their prescription for insulin?
I find the comments on this page to be haughty, arrogant and ignorant, contumelious and contumacious.
Incidently, gardening is truely the way to mental, physical and emotional health, with this part I totally agree. I raked my garlic today, let it breathe!
People with diabetes are addicted to sugar? Are you kidding me? I am a diabetic (type I) I have to watch everything I eat — converting carbs etc. Finding food and wanting to eat is a chore — I am not addicted to sugar or anything else. I work everyday to carry my own insurance — if these people want a forever high from this drug then they should get a job and work like everyone else and carry their own insurance. This would at least take the burden off the tax payers to give them their fix and cost of transportation to and from appointments to get the fix. Next time you want to compare an illness to a drug habit do a little research.
Ought to make it two months, then automatic rehab. No coddling.
I plan to vote David Burns for State Senate in the June 12th Republican Primary, and hopefully in November as well!
Back to Herion than! Hang on to your property,purse,cars.
Sad………but true in a horrible way
Methadone
represented less than 5% of prescribed opiates but was attributed to 1/3 of all
opiate related deaths.
http://www.stopmethadonedeaths.com
Right on
and most of those “methadone” deaths in maine were attributed to methadose Rx for pain. Other deaths involving methdone usally are a cocktail of various other substances.
About Time!, I have not heard from anyone who is on methadone coming off it and the people I talk to that are presently on it say it’s not to stop the addiction it’s to keep them from doing heroine, so what we have here in Maine at the present time is state goverment funded addiction at the tax payers expense, so “Boo Hoo”, I quit smoking years back and it was not easy but I did it and am better for it today, so get off it…You might like it!.
24 months is too long, and then a possible extension!! The cost of the clinics on the Mainecare system is HUGE. Not only does Mainecare pay for DAILY treatments, but mileage up to $10/day! You take mileage of $70/wk X 52 weeks then times 2 yrs= $7,280 then times that by 3500 patients $25,480,000. And that’s not counting the cost of the daily treatment. Legislature and the Governor need to wake up alittle more.
..Everyone has an opinion…
.No one has a solution.
It is just so darn complex with so many vested intersts in the till.
This message goes out to all
SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELORS WORKING IN METHADONE CLINICS:
1.I encourage you to start reading the writing on the wall.
2.Methadone treatment in Maine will become a thing of the past and has no immediate future.
3.The patients you care for and about will suffer but there is nothing you can do about it in the long run as they are victims of government budgets and the profit driven corporations that employ you.
4. Looks around; it all started when the MaineCare reinbursement rate went down last year.
5. You had to change to group counseling only; this is a money saver for your employer.
6. Lost any staff? You betcha.
7. Don’t assume that staff cuts always come from the bottom up or that your senority or experience makes any difference. It depends on the size of the individual salaries and if lower paid/less qualfied staff can be held in place to do enough work to stay in compliance with State Regs. Management staff can always be” borrowed” parttime from other facilities
8. The weekly MaineCare reinbursement went from $70 to $60.
9. Many noncategorical MaineCare patients lost their coverage and will not likely get it back.
10. The two year treatment cap on LC 1840 will continue this slow death.
11. Upgrade your skills and credentials NOW.
12. Start looking for another job, but not in methadone treatment.
I have a relative that started a methadone dose 3 yrs ago. After a yr and 3/4s I and my wife approached and talked to this relative (we even had them live at our house) and talked about how limiting the doses can be to life, jobs etc. The daily doses tie one to the clinic. She agreed and went to Acadia to ask for a less dose and to start the “weening”. The councilors decided that she needed MORE of a dose after that! With family support she quit cold turkey and has been off it now for a yr. Has a full time job, new fiance who has a full time job, a house they rent, a vehicle and a newborn. Her life has changed around only after she quit. I was amazed that Acadia was not receptive to weening off and then I realized its not about a cure, its about clients and money as they try to cloud the real reasons with science and medicine.
There appears to be a lot of opinions here that we need tougher laws and tougher treatment of addicts. They should be sent to labor farms, locked up in prison, kicked out on the street with no help, etc. What the people suggesting this don’t seem to understand is that stuff like this has already been tried many times. It’s still being done in other countries and to an extent in the US too. And you know what’s happened? It’s been a miserable failure! It hasn’t solved the problem for anyone no matter what perspective you are viewing it from. It may make some tough-on-crime people feel good but that’s about it. All the suggested actions to deal with addicts have just shown to be extremely expensive and has shown no positive results.
Methadone and Suboxone maintenance is being applied more and more the world over because it’s one of the very few programs that has been proven to work! It doesn’t work for everyone but it works for more people than any other program. And it works for society too. For every $1 spent on methadone treatment $4-$7 are saved. Even countries with traditionally harsh drug laws and implementation of those have now turned to methadone treatment and are even expanding it. China, for example, have started to realize that their labor camps and ultra harsh drug laws, including execution for drug crimes, doesn’t work and doesn’t benefit anyone. So in 2004 they opened their first methadone clinic and have opened 100’s more since.
girl on channel two news asking the reporter if they want people killing people or robbing people, because they wont be able to get their methadone….seems to me they want their fix easy and legal, well i want free weed too and hey keep the gas money..i will get myself there, its not fair or safe for me to have to turn to the streets to get my weed, i just want to be treated the same as everybody else….even for only two years!! i will take it. p.s. i do have a job and dont live in my parents basement im your neighbor
do you have a prescription for that weed?
Portugal legalized drugs. They still report on crime but it has fallen like a stone. They report on addiction, again it has dropped way off.
I can even take a right wing slant. Give them all the drugs they can take, not take aways, and many of the problems would solve themselves.
Legalize drugs, then you can jail, cold turkey, and punish anyone caught driving under the influence, stealing etc.
Prohibition does not and has never worked.
U cant put a time limit on recovery. everyone is different. this is bullshit
These people posting negative comments have obviously never gone thru addiction, nor have had anyone else go thru it. I am sure there’s alot of people who are abusing the methadone program, but remember, there actually are people who give the program 100 percent..and it may take someone longer than another to recover….
I’ve seen methadone treatment work for many people ,as of course they blend with everyone else, like they’re suppose to.
The people that don’t do well ARE noticed by the public as they get arrested and are sedated in public on the drug “cocktails” they mix with their methadone Rx.
The patients doing well in treatment, are forced to hide in the shadows and not speak up because of the prejudice and ignorance surrounding them.
We like to think oof oursevles as “modern” society, but we aren’t that far removed from the “burning times” for witches
If this happens, and u take away someone’s means of paying for treatment, they are just going to go on the streets..so it’s NOT making things better, maybe saving money, but in the big picture, it will actually make things worse. U can not rush someone’s treatment. this will just make things worse and I hope to god this doesn’t pass.
this is an uphill battle. I agree with you about the long term consequnces as barriers to treatment continue increasing. The outlook is bleak as this Bill is extremely likely to pass. It’s part of the End that been in motion sincee the Maine Care weekly reinbursement rate started its’ descent last year.
Methadone is a horrible medication for many reasons. Originally marketed as a pain medication, its half-life (the length of time it stays in the body) is much, much longer than any opioid. Hailed as a miracle drug in the treatment of heroin addiction, it was found to be effective in alleviating withdrawal from heroin. The dirty little secret is that once you start taking Methadone it’s almot impossible to get off it. I know, because I have been taking it for treatment of chronic pain. I hate it and wish I had NEVER allowed my physician to prescribe it. At the time I mistakenly assumed that I would be able to quit taking it any time. I was dead wrong- the withdrawal symptoms are crippling and last longer than any other drug, again because of the half-life. Apparently, the docs have figured it out, too, because the vast majority of them will no longer accept patients who are on it. I’m not saying that there aren’t people who abuse it. I am saying that suddenly discontinuing it would be downright cruel.
The double edged sword of methadone is that the long half life that stop withdrawals for 24-48 hours so patients can feel “normal” and function, is the same factor that makes discontinueing the medication, causes prolonged withdrawal. That’s why an extremely slow tapering process should be used or relapse potential increases. And even after a “successful” taper, it’s unlear if the brain’s neurotransmitter system has “healed” enough for the person to function well without supplement opioid medication, and relapsing yet again.
Yes, dependancy, and that’s what you’re describing, is a very complex thing with no simple answers.
ALL I SEE AND READ HERE ARE A BUNCH OF UNEDUCATED INDIVIDUALS! IT’S SICKENING REALLY..GET SOME KNOWLEDGE PEOPLE..EDUCATION IS KEY.. YES..I GO TO THE METHADONE CLINIC..YES MAINE CARE PAYS FOR IT..$95 A WEEK..FOR 12 YEARS..THE ALTERNATIVE ISN’T AN OPTION..BUT YOU SIT UP ON YOUR HIGH HORSES AND DRIVE PEOPLE INTO THE GROUND..HAS ADDICTION AFFECTED YOUR FAMILY IN ANY WAY? HAVE ANY OF YOU HAD CHILDREN, COUSINS, NIECES, NEPHEWS, ETC. WITH AN ADDICTION PROBLEM..IF NOT, THEN WAIT..NOBODY IS IMMUNE TO THIS..TAKING MAINE CARE ISN’T THE SOLUTION. WE NEED MORE SUPPORT GROUPS, ADDICTION COUNSELING, EDUCATION, MORE SUPPORT FROM OUR NEIGHBORS. WHEN THESE 3,500 FOLKS LOSE THEIR MAINE CARE..DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT’LL DO TO THIS STATE? THERE WILL BE SO MUCH MORE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK..ADDICTION IS A DISEASE AND I DON’T TAKE METHADONE TO GET HIGH..I TAKE IT SO I CAN LIVE A NORMAL LIFE. I DON’T ABUSE IT. I DON’T SELL IT. SO IT’S PEOPLE LIKE ME THAT PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE HURTING. I WILL REMAIN ON METHADONE WHETHER I HAVE TO PAY OR NOT. IT’S NOT A CHOICE FOR MOST PEOPLE. YES! ABSOLUTELY PEOPLE ABUSE THE SYSTEM AND USE METHADONE AS A SUBSTITUTE, BUT NOT ALL OF US DO THIS. I’M A HARD WORKING MEMBER OF SOCIETY AND I TRY MY BEST TO STAY ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW. WHY WOULD YOU PEOPLE TALK LIKE YOU DO? I BET AT LEAST HALF OF YOU HAVE SEEN WHAT ADDICTION CAN DO AND HAVE HAD A LOVED ONE OR FRIEND INFLICTED WITH THIS DISEASE, BUT YOU’D NEVER ADMIT IT..ALL IT’S ABOUT IS MONEY, MONEY, MONEY TO LINE THESE POLITICIANS POCKETS..MAINE HAS GONE TO HELL DUE TO CROOKS AND PEOPLE LIKE LEPAGE..NOT BECAUSE OF METHADONE TREATMENT..ALL I CAN SAY IS READ A BOOK..DO SOME RESEARCH ON METHADONE,,GET EDUCATED..I CAN’T SAY IT ENOUGH AND I KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING HERE WILL BE HEARD ON DEAF EARS..MAYBE YOU’LL LOOK AT THIS TREATMENT WITH A NEW LIGHT. IT’S SAD REALLY TO HEAR THE ANGER AND RESENTMENT IN YOUR POSTS..YOU REALLY HAVE TO EDUCATE YOURSELVES..I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT I SEE NO SENSE..LIKE I SAID 100 TIMES..RESEARCH MMT..IT’LL ENLIGHTEN YOU A TAD I’M SURE!
You’re singing to the choir with me mainedish72.
When this bill passes and it will, many many more than the 3,500 patients currently in treatment will be impacted.
We are headed back into the dark ages for now. This catastrophe is unavoidable.
It’s like Hurricane Katrina bearing down on the Gulf and we all thought the levies would hold.
This is much worse, as people will suffer and die; while drowning in other people’s ignorance and prejudice.
This Comment board is buried now, as this story is old news for alot of people as you have to go in and search for it.
People will forget about LD 1840 until it passes, talk a little more about it at the time………….
then the consequnces of apathy will be rendered….and we will all live with it……and die with it.