# Heroin vs. Methadone **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243 "2011-03-02T18:41:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243/21 "2012-03-23T05:49:13Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Heroin used to be legal, and was a commercial pharmaceutical. > > [File:Bayer Heroin bottle.jpg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayer_Heroin_bottle.jpg) Heroin can still be legally prescribed in the UK. Most drug maintenance clinics started switching to methadone in the 1970s but a small number of registered addicts still receive heroin. The advantages of methadone are: it’s longer lasting it maintains its potency when taken orally (heroin loses much of its potency taken orally) One of the disadvantages of methadone is that withdrawal is harder and longer-lasting than heroin. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243/22 "2012-03-23T06:27:34Z")
Such wisdom, **Broomstick** (as usual). ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243/23 "2012-03-23T09:12:56Z")
> [@Georgian](#): > > Chelseapink9 > Remember your dad the way he was. He would have been extremely proud of you doing your studies. Try to stick with it and focus on your own future. It’s such a tough thing for a young person to go through but remember that you also have an obligation to look after yourself. I hope the doctor who originally prescribed the treatment is aware of the outcomes. Good luck with the support group that the other contributor suggested. If you work with groups like this you can help raise the awareness. Hello, Georgian, welcome to the SDMB. I just wanted to tell you that chelseapink9 will probably not read what you wrote, since he posted exactly once, four months ago, and nothing since. And, if I may ask, out of personal curiosity, how did you find this thread and what made you register and respond to it? I’m just asking since this happens a lot (old threads getting re-animated, hence our name Zombie thread) and it’s almost always by new posters who registered to post in a thread that is sometimes more than ten years old. chelseapink9 himself revived this very thread after 8 months of silence. I hope you don’t take offence and stick around, as opposed to him. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243/24 "2012-03-24T15:12:11Z")
Or maybe not… ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243/25 "2012-03-24T16:53:18Z")
There seem to be a lot of folks out there who are more interested in stating their opinion than having a conversation. Though it’s sad to see, I am not really interested in dealing with those types of folks, and the problem is fortunately self correcting. ---
**Author:** ![Ughlayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dc4da7/32.png) [@Ughlayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ughlayna)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243/26 "2014-01-21T12:17:08Z")
My uncle is finally getting clean after being addicted to heroin for over a decade. I have witnessed him die from a heroin overdose, and my family and I are lucky enough to still have him with us, as he was resuscitated. Even that wasn’t enough of a wake-up call. I’m not 100% sure what it is in his life that has given him the motivation to really quit this time, but I can tell that he actually is going through withdrawal because of his vomiting/fatigue/irritability/etc. The main reason I wanted to post here was to share the experiences that I have had concerning a person on methadone vs. a person on heroin. When my uncle was on heroin, he acted very strange much of the time. He often had auditory and even visual hallucinations. He seemed wildly happy at times and then devastated at others. His mood changed very suddenly and somewhat often. While he was on methadone, he didn’t have such drastic mood swings. He simply went about his day as normal (Aside from his depression; however, he has had issues with depression before this whole ordeal) . He was able to maintain a job at a restaurant as a host, although they let him go because his teeth are somewhat decayed, probably from lack of self care. Instead of insanely affecting his mood and his behavior, it seemed to just keep him sane. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-vs-methadone/573243.md?page=1)