# Was methadone maintenance sort of lied about in the past? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114 "2012-04-07T20:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/21 "2012-04-08T13:00:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Does methadone have any other legitimate medical applications besides heroin addiction? It’s a very effective long-acting opioid pain killer. I’ve got a few patients with cancer on it right now. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/22 "2012-04-08T13:41:21Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s a very effective long-acting opioid pain killer. > > I’ve got a few patients with cancer on it right now. I used to date a gal who had chronic back pain from a car wreck and was prescribed fairly high doses of methadone. She was actually being overprescribed, because she had plenty left over to share with me. Yes, the high is pleasant-- not as intense as heroin but much longer-lasting. I didn’t nod out on it. For me, it was an excellent “work drug.” It put me in a great mood and gave me lots of energy, almost like a 10-hour coke high. Alas, withdrawal is indeed a bitch. It’s like having the flu for 3 months. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/23 "2012-04-08T22:52:18Z")
My contact is doing Easter so I won’t know until tomorrow. And, yeah, methadone would have no street value if it didn’t get one high. And those junkies outside those clinics who sell their doses know it. The point was 'methadonians", as we call them here, will sell their doses to get what they really want. Point of one of my earlier posts was to demonstrate that it’s a recreational drug as well. I wasn’t recommending illegal activity. And to the person who asked about heroin I ask: “Got any?” JOKE JOKE JOKE but still ---
**Author:** ![Normal\_Phase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Normal\_Phase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Normal_Phase)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/24 "2012-04-09T00:29:25Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Now if you’ve been doing major methadone dosages for a long time, the withdrawal from that is a real bitch. I can imagine. My nephew had major health issues and surgery right after he was born, and was switched to methadone for pain relief after it proved too stressful for him to taper the fentanyl rapidly (they wanted him off IVs, and methadone can be given with a nasogastric tube). He was in the hospital in total for just over two months, and all but the last week of that was still tapering down the methadone. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/25 "2012-04-09T04:54:53Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Does methadone have any other legitimate medical applications besides heroin addiction? I have been told that it is used as a strong pain killer. I am currently on extended release morphine with percocet for chronic pain. I was using the Fentynal patch before that. I have always been concerned with my tolerance level as it seems to be rising with each passing year. When I brought that up to one of my former doctors, they told me that if the Fentynal stopped working the next step would be methadone. Thankfully a change of doctors found me someone who understands long term pain management, not only got me off that evil Fentynal, but has been siuccesful in decreasing the amount of morphine necessary to control the pain. With any luck I will never have to use methadone. But as long as I’ve been taking opiods I am afraid I am doing all kinds of harm to my organs from the long term use. But what other options are there? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/26 "2012-04-09T14:36:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My understanding had been that methadone was a weaker opiate drug that was used to taper users off, similarly to how a quitting smoker might use nicotine gum (with the ultimate goal being no drug at all). I guess that’s not quite accurate? > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Methadone is an opioid. Opioids are molecules that act on the opioid receptor in the body, whether they’re derived from opium (like morphine and heroin and codeine) or they’re synthetic, like methadone or fentanyl, to name only a few. Opiates are derived from opium. > > Methadone is very powerful, and has a very, very long half-life. As such, the euphoria it induces tends to be not nearly as extreme as the short-acting opioids. > > It’s the long half-life that makes it useful for treating withdrawal from short-acting opioids. They’ll ease the jonesing from coming off heroin, oxycodone, etc. > > Now if you’ve been doing major methadone dosages for a long time, the withdrawal from that is a real bitch. > [@cynyc](#): > > Hang outside any methadone clinic if you want to buy someone’s dose and get high off of it. For real. This is what I recall from reading the news - since sometime n the 1970’s, the media portrayed it as “replacing heroin so addicts could function. No high but no cold turkey so no temptation to fall off the wagon.” Within a few years it became apparent that it was usable as a substitute for opiates, including the high. Then we started reading about thedoses being sold on street, people being forced to consume their doses in front of clinic staff, etc. So basically, they created a new second street drug. I assume the major advantage is that it is a pill, so those cinema-genic dramatic actions like heating with a spoon over a candle, rubber tourniquets and needles, etc. are unneccessary? That probably compensates for the lesser high… ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/27 "2012-04-09T17:11:50Z")
I recently saw a documentary on addiction to prescription medications, and methadone was one of them. It’s got to be doing something. They were also showing a guy “smoking” it. He’d put the pill (oxycontin) on aluminum foil, light it underneath, and inhale the fumes. I assume this gives a faster reaction than simply taking the pill? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/28 "2012-04-09T17:44:38Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > I recently saw a documentary on addiction to prescription medications, and methadone was one of them. It’s got to be doing something. I don’t know how the idea got started that methadone doesn’t cause euphoria. It’s been known to cause euphoria ever since it was first invented (by the Nazis, actually, and marketed as Dolophine, in honor of Adolph.) It’s rumored that Goering was fond of it. The euphoria is not as intense as morphine or heroin or oxycodone. But it lasts longer. > [@](#): > > They were also showing a guy “smoking” it. He’d put the pill (oxycontin) on aluminum foil, light it underneath, and inhale the fumes. I assume this gives a faster reaction than simply taking the pill? Smoking opium and other opioids has been a traditional route of ingestion for centuries. It generally does work faster and more intensely that way. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/29 "2012-04-09T21:54:30Z")
I spoke to my source. The magic word is “Bupernorphine.” Weird how the r & n characters are so close that they look like a m and therefor morphine. I notice stuff like that. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/30 "2012-04-09T22:39:07Z")
> [@cynyc](#): > > I spoke to my source. The magic word is “Bupernorphine.” > > Weird how the r & n characters are so close that they look like a m and therefor morphine. I notice stuff like that. Just saying. Buprenorphine. See post #20 ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/31 "2012-04-09T23:54:18Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Buprenorphine. See post #20 I have heard that methadone is a nasty, nasty detox. I met a gal once who was in _detox_ (not _rehab_) for three months due to a Bad Habit. (She was a rich kid.) Her chippy was about 300 mg… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/32 "2012-04-10T00:38:06Z")
> [@cynyc](#): > > I have heard that methadone is a nasty, nasty detox. I met a gal once who was in _detox_ (not _rehab_) for three months due to a Bad Habit. (She was a rich kid.) Her chippy was about 300 mg… See post #13. [sub]does anybody read what I post?[/sub] 😕 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/33 "2012-04-10T06:09:49Z")
I distinctly remember as a response to NIMBY types not wanting methadone clinics or patients within 100 miles that “this drug stops addicts from getting high” not that it was simply a replacement with several advantages. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/34 "2012-04-10T20:47:14Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I don’t know how the idea got started that methadone doesn’t cause euphoria. It’s been known to cause euphoria ever since it was first invented (by the Nazis, actually, and marketed as Dolophine, in honor of Adolph.) **Qadgop** , I believe that’s just a legend – it was probably based on “dolor,” the Latin word for pain. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methadone#Origin\_of\_Dolophine\_name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methadone#Origin_of_Dolophine_name) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/35 "2012-04-10T22:16:30Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > **Qadgop** , I believe that’s just a legend – it was probably based on “dolor,” the Latin word for pain. > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methadone#Origin\_of\_Dolophine\_name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methadone#Origin_of_Dolophine_name) Thanks for disabusing me of that pernicious myth, **chorpler**. I’d hate to continue to promulgate something asserted by Scientology as true. Interesting that methadone’s original name was polamidon, and it was produced initially in 1937, before the war. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114/36 "2012-04-11T01:31:11Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > [sub]does anybody read what I post?[/sub] 😕 Who are ya? Whaddya think you are? Some kinda doctor or something? :D:p [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-methadone-maintenance-sort-of-lied-about-in-the-past/618114.md?page=1)