cannabisnews.com: New Law Allows Shift in Heroin Treatment New Law Allows Shift in Heroin Treatment Posted by FoM on October 18, 2000 at 21:36:30 PT By Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Heroin addicts would be able to obtain prescriptions for treatment with promising new drugs in the privacy of a doctor's office under a bill signed into law by President Clinton late Tuesday.Marking a significant departure from attitudes that have governed the treatment of opiate addicts for 86 years, the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 permits qualified physicians to prescribe take-home doses of a mild narcotic, buprenorphine, to people addicted to heroin or prescription painkillers. "It's revolutionary, I think, making it much more broadly available," said Thomas Kosten, professor of psychiatry at Yale University's School of Medicine. "It will help remove some of the stigma associated with opiate dependence."The Food and Drug Administration still must give the go-ahead on the use of buprenorphine for treating narcotics addiction, but federal health officials say this is expected any day."I've heard nothing from the FDA that would suggest this is not going to happen," said H. Westley Clark, director of the U.S. Health and Human Services Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Clark said buprenorphine could be on the market for use in opiate detoxification and maintenance as soon as January.Developed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Richmond-based Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc., buprenorphine is an alternative to methadone, a proven treatment hindered by the fact that it is dispensed at highly regulated clinics in daily doses.Buprenorphine, a narcotic already used as an injectable painkiller, is powerful enough to block the craving for heroin. But its unusual chemical properties make it longer-lasting, less addictive and – because it does not suppress breathing – less likely to trigger a fatal overdose than methadone or other opiates."It's the kind of drug that, like methadone, prevents you from withdrawing, but also prevents you from experiencing the euphoria you experience with heroin," said Michael L. Fox, medical director of the chemical dependency unit at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, Mich.Federal officials estimate that there are from 500,000 to 1 million heroin addicts in the United States, but only about 200,000 in treatment. By moving narcotics treatment away from government-sanctioned clinics, federal health officials hope to reach heroin addicts in rural areas and middle-class drug users who shy away from methadone clinics for fear of being seen. The widespread use of buprenorphine could limit the spread of methadone clinics and the battles that often flare in neighborhoods whenever a new clinic is proposed.Marketed under the brand names Subutex and Suboxone, the drug would be available in tablets that addicts would place under their tongues. "My biggest fear is there won't be sufficient funds for the people who are addicted to be able to get this . . . anti-addictive medication," said Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), a sponsor of the bill. Though the cost of buprenorphine isn't yet known, federal health officials already are exploring ways to make it affordable, Clark said.Charles P. O'Brien, chief of psychiatry at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Philadelphia, said the new law represents a major shift in attitudes away from viewing addiction as a moral vice toward seeing it as a chronic disease like diabetes.Source: Washington Post (DC) Author: Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Thursday , October 19, 2000 ; Page A12 Contact: letterstoed washpost.comAddress: 1150 15th Street NorthwestWashington, DC 20071© 2000 The Washington Post Company Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm CannabisNews Articles - Narcotics:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/narcotics.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Heroin:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=heroin Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by Randy Walker on April 24, 2002 at 15:24:11 PT: Buprenorphine I am appalled at the doctors comments. I have tried the buprinorphine and it works so much better than what's available now. I have been a heroin addict for almost 20 yrs., and it's his kind of ignorance that is killing us. Agonist-Antagonist? Can you say Talwin or Nubain? It sounds as though the good doctor owns a methadone clinic. Believe me, methadone profits are very good. There will never be legal heroin programs in the U.S., so his rambings on the non-toxicity is mute. No one claimed that this drug was non addictive, but respitory faliure is almost nil. I personally had Ibogaine to clean up from heroin, but that is a whole different story all together and quite contriversal. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Debbie on August 19, 2001 at 17:17:46 PT: Buprenex in Southern Calif please help!! I have heard very good things about Bup. I am trying to find a Dr or a clinic in Southern Calif who will detox me with Bup. I have been on Oxycontine for about a year and now since all the bad publicity my Dr. changed me toFentanyl patches and I'm scared to death.Please help and e-mail me with any leads on how to get Buprenex in S. CaliforniaThanksDebbie [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Ayesha on April 19, 2001 at 17:42:42 PT: buprenorphine I have started using buprenorphine and it has helped me to get off methadone right away. Methadone wrecked my body. There's nothing to be suspicious about. There are almost no side effects either! Methadone is not helping people at all, the failure rate is incredibly high compared to buprenorphine. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Ayesha Coxon on February 05, 2001 at 07:10:11 PT: Buprenex In reply to Ethan Russo, Buprenex has been used for depression, successfully. As for those of us who are on methadone, after reading the studies and trial results, I am excited that we will finally have something that will be easier to detox from. Methadone has been nothing but a real pain for me, and I look forward to trying Subutex. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on October 19, 2000 at 10:06:04 PT: Cautions, from the Hinterlands I am extremely uneasy with this. Buprenorphine is a mixed agonist-antagonist on opiate receptors. Other similar drugs have been advocated as "non-addictive" while they share that potential. A good example is Stadol, a particularly pernicious drug, purveyed to doctors as a safe alternative to other narcotics. Well, surprise, it's horribly addictive, and dangerous, too. There have been numerous deaths from this stuff. See:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9153436&dopt=Abstract There are other issues. Addicts frequently become dysphoric on such drugs (depressed or suicidal). I am not convinced that this newcomer is non-toxic. As strange as it sounds, the dangers of morphine and heroin addiction have little or nothing to do with toxicity. Rather, it is infection due to contamination, or respiratory depression with overdoses of opiates that cause deaths, not the addiction itself. In enlightened countries where heroin or methadone are supplied in supervised medical settings, they do not have our crime problems. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Peace on October 19, 2000 at 09:09:33 PT: I definitely smell a big, stinky RAT. I don't trust ANY of them. They all have alterior motives. The well-being of the public is not a priority. "Marijuana consumers belong in jail for the rest of their lives," and "Heroin addition is similar to diabetes and should be treated," are highly contradictory statements for our government to be be parading. Doesn't look good to me. Could be a start. But the start of what? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dddd on October 19, 2000 at 04:00:39 PT cost I guess this is better than nothing,,but I cant help but smell a rat....Here again,we have the influence of pharmaceutical giants swaying laws to mass market their patented "heroin Lite",concoction,that will now soon be approved for use in the new "treatment" phase of the wods,which of course will allow massive overpriced quantities to be paid for in some new federal collusionary scam/fiasco......dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by EdC on October 19, 2000 at 02:01:27 PT New Law Allows Shift in Heroin Treatment It's a start...I think. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: