Methadone - What Kind of Drug Is It?
What Kind of Drug Is It?
Methadone is a synthetic drug, meaning that it is made in a laboratory from chemicals. It behaves like an opiate drug in the brain. Opiates are drugs, derived from the opium poppy plant, that tend to decrease restlessness, bring on sleep, and relieve pain. The natural opiates—such as codeine, heroin, morphine, and opium—are known for their painkilling properties, but also for their addictive nature. Such substances encourage abuse because they induce euphoria, or feelings of extreme happiness or enhanced well-being.
Methadone works differently. Its slow onset and long-lasting impact lessen the chances that the user will get high from taking it. At the same time, it blocks the receptors in the brain that are stimulated by opiates, so those using methadone do not get high even if they take heroin or morphine too. (Entries on codeine, heroin, morphine, and opium are also available in this encyclopedia.) Methadone is best known as the medication prescribed to help opiate addicts end the destructive behavior associated with drug addiction.
People with opiate addictions often use drugs such as heroin and morphine more to avoid withdrawal symptoms than to achieve a high. Withdrawal is the process of gradually cutting back on the amount of a substance being taken until use can be discontinued entirely. Indeed, withdrawal from opiates—even prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin—can be difficult and challenging. Methadone eases all symptoms of opiate withdrawal, including anxiety and insomnia, a sleep disorder. Those who receive methadone treatment from trained, licensed doctors—and who follow the treatment schedule carefully—face little danger of overdose, infectious disease, or organ failure. When used properly, it is a medicine that helps users end their addictions and get on with their lives.
When Methadone Is Abused
When used illegally or improperly, though, methadone is one of the most dangerous drugs on the street. According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), emergency room visits related to methadone overdose tripled between 1997 and 2001. Since then, methadone-related deaths and hospitalizations have continued to rise. Two factors have contributed to the spike in methadone-related emergencies. First, doctors are prescribing the drug more often as a painkiller. In that form, methadone is dispensed by pharmacies as pills and taken into homes. Sometimes it is either used improperly by the patient or sold on the street or to drug dealers.
The second possibility for methadone ER visits involves multi-drug use. Numerous drug deaths have occurred when people combine methadone with other painkillers, opiates, cocaine, tranquilizers, or alcohol. (Separate entries on these drugs are available in this encyclopedia.) The presence of other substances increases the likelihood that methadone will cause comaA state of unconsciousness from which a person cannot be aroused by noise or other stimuli., breathing difficulties, and even death.
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, drug enforcement agents have seized greater quantities of methadone that have been diverted or put into illegal use. Concern over this diversion has led to high-level government meetings and studies on how to keep this powerful pain reliever with many useful qualities out of the wrong hands.
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