The bad ones are giving the rest of us a bad name.......

Each day as I go over the latest news articles about methadone to see if there are some interesting ones to post to the forum, you would be surprised at how many of them I don't post that deal with ppl misusing, abusing, overdosing or selling their methadone. Each day I read of someone who gave someone else their methadone and it ended up killing them, teens, children and even BABIES! I get so aggrivated at some of them and all it is doing is feeding into that preconceived idea that the rest of the population has about ppl on methadone.

Most of them, not all, but most of them are ppl who are getting methadone from a pain mgt doc. We know how strict clinics are about regulating and keeping track of our take homes so it is a lot harder to break the rules when you go to a MMT clinic. NOT IMPOSSIBLE, but it sure helps deter the inclination to misuse the medication.

The pain mgt docs so freely write out scripts for daily doses as high as 600mg A DAY. The majority of the ones I read about are well over the 120mg "silent cap" that most clinics have on the dose and they are not holding these pts accountable in ANY WAY.

This in turn makes it so much easier for those who are inclined to abuse or sell their methadone to do so, which in turn gives the rest of us a bad name.

For example, let's take food stamp or welfare. I worked as a case manager for the food stamp and AFDC office in Texas for 8 years (now it is called TANF and not AFDC) but IN MY OPINION most of the ppl on food stamps and AFDC/TANF had NO BUSINESS being on it. They were abusing the system and taking advantage of the system for their own misuse. Now there is a small percentage that actually needed and appreciated FS and AFDC/TANF and it helped them during a very hard time in their lives, but if we are honest with ourselves (or at least I feel this way), when we hear that someone is on welfare, we already have that idea in our head (because of the scammers and abusers of the systems) that makes us suspicious of the legit ppl as well. is it fair? HECK NO!!! but it is the reality of the situation.

I think that is what happens to those of us who take methadone and are legit. We suffer the bad rap that comes down because of the ones that misuse the medication.

Even in the clinics this happens to us! How many times have we read a post from someone that told how the staff at their clinic treated them w/disrespect and distrust? Yes, at one time we were untrustworthy too, but you understand what I am getting at, right?

That is what we are trying to stop here at MAT of America INC with the website and the forum. To put an end to the unfair prejudice that is put upon all MMT pts. Is it going to be easy? NO! Will it ever change?? I don't know. We can only hope so and strive to bring this change about.

Many years ago, ppl looked down on those who suffered from depression. They said that you should just be able to "snap out of it" or think yourself in a good mood or LORD FORBID that they were just attention seeking! It was a shameful thing to admit that you took antidepressants for depression. That all changed when the info was brought out to the public about the realities behind depression. That it is a chemical imbalance and that many ppl suffered from it and medication helps so many! Now it is no big deal for someone to admit they take antidepressants and are even at times congratulated for taking the steps to get the help they need for depression!

Things will be so much easier when the face of addiction is changed in the public eye and they are given the correct info about ORT and opiate addiction.

But I guess until then, we will have to deal with the situation the best way we know how. It still doesn't make me any less angry at those who give the rest of us a bad name because of their mistakes but it does give me some hope that one day ppl will stop looking down their nose at ORT pts and treating us like we are scum of the earth.

Thanks for letting me rant and I would love to hear another opinion on this subject, even if it disagrees with mine so don't hesitate to share!