Feb 8, 2015 | By Tim Stoddart
Heroin or Methadone – Which is More Addictive?
Heroin Addiction
Heroin use has been steadily increasing in our country with the number of first time users having grown by about 60 percent in the last decade. This hardcore drug has spread from the inner-city to the suburbs, even infiltrating isolated rural communities. The abuse of prescription opiate painkillers, such as Oxycontin, is one of the main reasons for this rise in use of heroin. As users of prescription opiates struggle to fulfill their cravings with expensive pills, they oftentimes turn to the much cheaper alternative of heroin to get high and stave off withdrawals.
The heroin problem in America is devastating communities and lives. Heroin is extremely addictive and coming off of the drug results in such a painful detox, accompanied by cravings so intense, that many addicts find themselves unable to stop using the drug. Heroin is considered to be the most addictive street drug, and even a short period of abstinence may seem unattainable for a chronic user.
Does Methadone Help Heroin Addicts?
Methadone use is a controversial issue. However, there’s no controversy over the fact that heroin is a persistent and severe social problem, one that must be effectively addressed. When solving the problem, it has to be geared toward the individual addict, the person who is experiencing extreme detox and withdrawals when they stop using. Most professionals in the field of chemical dependency treatment agree, medically assisted treatment is necessary to taper the heroin addict off of opiates during the throes of their withdrawals. Methadone, an opioid medication that was originally developed to treat pain, has been a primary pharmacological treatment of heroin addiction since the 1960’s.
The use of methadone itself is somewhat controversial due to the fact that it is also addictive. When used in the treatment of heroin addiction, it is taken orally on a daily basis to lessen or prevent withdrawals. Although it doesn’t produce a high, a dependence can be formed. This is because stopping methadone results in painful and nearly intolerable withdrawals, similar to heroin.
Benefits of Methadone Treatment
Proponents of methadone treatment view it as applicable in two possible ways: a way to gently taper down a user’s dependence on opioid drugs, or as a maintenance treatment. Maintenance treatment is not ideal, but due to the fact that methadone doesn’t provide a high like heroin, long-term use does not preclude a person from living a normal life. As a maintenance regimen, taken over an extended period of time, a person may become dependent upon the drug to prevent life-disrupting withdrawals. However, they are able to participate fully in society and can hold down a job, participate in family life, go to school etc., without the psychological or emotional impairments associated with heroin use. Some of the benefits of methadone treatment that proponents advocate include:
- Reduction in use of heroin
- Reduction is risks associated with intravenous drug use, such as blood-borne illnesses or injection site infections
- Relives cravings for opiates
- Prevents withdrawals
- Does not get the user high
- Is metabolized slowly, so can be taken once per day
- Reduction in associated criminal activity
- Reduced death rates
- Improved possibility for employment and familial stability
Drawbacks of Methadone Treatment
Opponents of methadone treatment believe that, at its core, the treatment is flawed and ineffective. Replacing one highly addictive substance with another does not treat the addiction. Instead it causes a major delay in the addict’s recovery process. Maintenance therapy, they point out, can drag on for months into untold years. Drugs fuel an addiction but do not actually cause the behavior. Opponents of methadone treatment believe that opiate addicts should receive intensive inpatient therapy with abstinence from opiates being the singular goal of treatment. They believe the dysfunctional behavior itself must be changed, not avoided by replacing one drug with a more socially acceptable substitute. Opponents of methadone therapy point out the following flaws in the treatment model:
- Methadone itself is addictive and withdrawals can be as bad – or worse than – as when stopping heroin
- Like heroin, a tolerance is developed, leaving risk for potential overdose
- Methadone is thought to cause tooth decay and skeletal issues
- Methadone can be dangerous for those who experience respiratory or autoimmune diseases
- Long-term therapy is expensive
- Addicts may still engage in heroin use in between methadone doses due to lack of treatment to address the core cause of their addiction
Which is More Addictive – Heroin or Methadone?
The crux of the issue is this: is methadone more addictive than heroin? Like most controversies, there is no definitive answer that can be spelled out in certain terms. It’s true that methadone is a opiate and is thus addictive. While the recipients don’t get high, they do develop a tolerance. This means they must take more and more of the medication to avoid going into withdrawals.
When examining the two primary components of addiction, physiology and psychology, we can see that methadone does cause a physically-based addiction. Since it is metabolized much more slowly than heroin, the withdrawals also take longer to work through. In terms of psychology, it doesn’t provide an intoxicating effect like heroin. However, there is a level pf psychological dependence because users fear experiencing withdrawals. Unlike heroin addicts, methadone users are able to function and complete activities of daily living to build a more stable life that is separate from hardcore drug use.
Heroin, as we have examined, is the most addictive street drug available. Physiologically, users crave it every few hours due to the fact that it is metabolized quickly. Withdrawals set in rapidly but also run their course more quickly than do those experienced with methadone. A tolerance is also developed over time so users must use more as their addiction progresses. Due to the unknown composition and potency of street heroin this can lead to death by overdose. Psychologically, users crave the euphoric high that heroin provides. They also fear the devastating withdrawals they experience if they don’t have regular access to the drug.
Is Methadone a Solution for Heroin Users?
Methadone is as full of drawbacks as it is benefits. It is legal, less dangerous to use, allows a heroin user to stabilize his or her life and has less criminal activity and incarceration associated with its use. However, it is an addictive substance, users develop a tolerance, withdrawals can last longer than those of heroin and long-term therapy is expensive.
Heroin is illegal, extremely unpredictable in potency (resulting in risk of death with every use), wreaks havoc upon the user’s life and is associated with crime and jail. Heroin offers no benefits, only hopelessness. The debate over methadone’s addictive properties is ongoing, but experts in the field of substance abuse should never lose sight of the fact that the patient’s best interests are of the utmost importance. Heroin addiction doesn’t come with an easy fix, so it’s almost logical that its treatments would also be as controversial as the problem.
Kimberly
9 years ago
i believe heroin is make addictive I am happy to say that I have been clean and sober for three months and 19 days !
christy
9 years ago
You absolutely CAN get high from methadone! Its treatment plan is flawed, as with any that substitutes one addictive drug for another. One cannot maintain a steady 9-5 job unless the clinics are open 24/7. In my case, they were not. The addict must visit the clinic daily for his/her dose until they are trustworthy enough to dose themselves every other day ……etc. There is no winner, no loser, one more addictive than the other. Neither will help you, both will kill you spiritually, mentally, and potentially, physically! Pray to the good Lord above to deliver you from the grips of addiction!
Ruth
7 years ago
I believe what u are saying .. my daughter used heroin for 10 yrs and has been on methadone for 6 yrs.. I don’t see her getting off methadone anytime soon. It makes me mad that these clinics don’t wean you off after a couple years .. my taxes are paying for this crap and it pisses me off
Matt Piercy
7 years ago
Your daughter is better off on methadone. I’ve been on methadone since October 15, 2009. The last day I ever used drugs or alcohol was November 6, 2009
I’m grateful every day.
I’ve seen what happens when parents push their children who are recovering opioid addicts to get off methadone or not supportive of their treatment:
My friend just relapsed 6 months ago after she got down to a dose that was too low, and she was not prepared for the cravings that come with it. Her mum pushed her to get off methadone. Now she’s injecting heroin AND fentanyl. My friend is a young mum with two beautiful children and is now prostituting herself to get her fix.
If she would have stayed on the methadone she would not be using again.
Bottom line: methadone maintenance is better than active injection heroin use.
Here is the reality: when a person on methadone comes off it, they are 1200% more likely to die from an overdose. The decision must be left to the patient and the doctor, and if your daughter needs to be on methadone for the rest of her life, then at least she HAS a life. With active addiction, the ends are always the same: Jails, institutions, and death (as they say in NA.)
Also, be grateful that your taxes are paying for methadone maintenance.
There are so many costs to society due to addiction ( i.e: paying for the criminal justice system when they get arrested, costs to businesses and eventually consumers when they steal from stores, and medical costs are higher as the risk of infection and overdose are WAY higher than the average non-user.)
The cost to taxpayers for addicts in active addiction are sometimes 10x higher than just paying for their treatment. I’ve seen statistics that show that The average addict costs taxpayers $80,000 a year. Methadone maintenance is less than $10,000 a year. That is a HUGE difference.
Methadone may not be perfect. It’s hard to get off of, and there are some side effects, along with the stigma attached to it. However, the benefit for me has been that I’ve lived almost 8 years without having to wonder how I was going to afford my heroin, and what I was going to do to get it. I went back to school, volunteered places, had relationships, held down a good paying job for years, and also renewed my faith in God. I would have struggled to accomplish all that without medication assisted treatment. Today I’m blessed!
benge
9 years ago
Which is easier to come off methadone or suboxones
Brandon
9 years ago
I have been going to my Methadone clinic now for almost 3 & 1/2 years. People say you shouldn’t stay on Methadone long term, but I believe each individual is different. I was a very heavy herion user for approx. 5 years. And since I have been on a stable dose of Methadone my life has totally changed for the best. I haven’t done any opiates since this and I have a great family, steady job now for 2 1/2 years, and I am very confident with my life and where it is going now. Whereas before I wasn’t. Or didn’t really care if I lived or died to be honest. So in my opinion, Methadone is a very good medication to use for Opiate addiction treatment.
Matt Piercy
7 years ago
Good on you!
Michelle
9 years ago
I am so happy for you. I as well suffered from a long term heroin addiction (8 yrs) to which I finally surrendered to and got help through a physician who specialized in addiction. Along with methadone tablets prescribed carefully & strategically , I also went to support group called Celebrate Recovery (Christian based 12-step) it can be done I believe as I have been sober since 7/7/11!!
joe
9 years ago
I will say that I generally like the things posted here but this is total bullshit. I tried the methadone approach. It does not releive cravings at all! Yes you absolutely do get high. Really high. All it takes is about a 10 milligram increase and your high for 12 plus hours. Weaning off it? Good luck. Heroin withdrawals times 110. This is all from experience.
Cameron
7 years ago
Absolutely I was a extremely heavy user around 7 grams a DAY! no joke I tried suboxone didn’t help me at all! Methadone yes it helps tremendously however I was on it for 7 years now I’m withdrawaling like I’ve never before the withdrawals are sooo intense people have no idea what they are getting into when they takes methadone plus they get people on HUGE doses of methadone 200mg and up I was on 185mg for years and now I’m paying for it horribly so honestly I wish I would have never took methadone and fuck yes you get high from it even I did when I started it and it’s called the honeymoon effect and for like 6 months you are basically not functionable because of nodding and passing out just like on heroin cept for me it was way worse I wrecked multiple times from it. Never one on heroin did I ever crash my car either so should tell you something that methadone is much much more potent than even heroin!
Andrew
9 years ago
Wow so much incorrect info.
1. Methadone programs require counseling. So, the core causes of use should be being addressed.
2. You cannot build a tolerance to it.
3. You can get high on methadone alone, but not likely. You would have to be on a really high dose, far beyond the therapeutic dose. Otherwise you are taking something else.
Andrew
9 years ago
Also, the idea that it is replacing one drug for another is flawed. That is like saying the patch or gum is just switching one drug for another.
Matt Piercy
7 years ago
Exactly!
Josh
9 years ago
Methadone saved my life. I was on it from 04-07. With methadone you’re forced to see a substance abuse counselor. And if you’re at a methadone clinic you’re obviously there for help and will listen.
I look at methadone as a staircase you can slowly walk down. While most detox and rehabs are like parachuting to the ground. This isn’t something that can be solved for Most in 28 days. I’m clean and I owe it all to counseling and methadone. Just my opinion
Daniel Pottman
8 years ago
I have been on just about every opiate since 1994 due to Multiple
Sclerosis. Metadone is for two reasons. To wean off of heroin and for severe chronic pain that will last the rest of my life. Subxone was so damn expensive and the pain control was not that great. I have been listed as opiod dependent now for 31 years. Dilaudid was harder to kick than heroin. Woudn’t want those withdrawls ever again.. I literlly thought I was going to die. With any opiate the body soon gets accustomed to the drug, wether it be amitrypline. clonazam and other drugs I’ve been on since my diagnosis in s1990. It has been a long, strange trip, abut out of experience I know that to take more than prescribed will lead to very quick addiction.. I never got high on any of my Pk’s due to the fact if your in paing the opiate will seek out your pain. Oherwise hit will go straight to your head. s14.5 mgs of dilaudid with a pump plan in 2000, extracted in 2010 was never a help. I look forward to the day when I won’t have to buy any pills. Yes, I’ve tried weed and was an adamant supporter, but it would not touch the pain. Sometimes the Granddady Kush would helps, but it was great for anger and depression..Who doesn’t get depressed when you get doors slapped in the face when I apply for a Master llL Master Personal trainer among 4 other spelized nin all n5 licences.
The pain keep me away. Hopes this helps.
Sincerely, Daniel Pottman
Ruth
7 years ago
I know people who are using methodone and nod off like heroin.. it’s addictive and you do get high off of it.. I wish I knew who to contact about these clinics.. they just keep giving and giving., they need a wean off program
David
7 years ago
Methadone is a terrible alternative! Suboxone is currently the best option. But there is no magic bullet, there is no short cut, just bad options and slightly less bad options. Was on methadone for 10+ yrs, and yes not only do you get high from it, but the withdrawal is far worse than heroin. Yes, It can stabilize you, but likely at an exorbitant long term cost of continued dependency.
I switched to subs from domes with a group of hard core IV heroin users. By day 2 they felt great on the subs, on day 5 I was still sick as hell. Unless there is no other alternative, and the high cost, high stress lifestyle of herion use is killing you, stay away from methadone!
Russell Spear
4 years ago
Sigh, though cold turkey has been the only really effective means to end physical addiction, there is a substance that has been used in southeast asia for centuries that can help with withdrawal without addicting you; it is called kratom. Many people are using it. At the University of Florida, mice given kratom after being addicted to heroin, regained their weight, those given methadon did not. Since it has been used for centuries to control pain or to get off opium, I think it is worth looking in to, but, that is up to you.
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