The use of methadone does not provide a solution for junkies to escape the chaotic life of addiction. Instead, it only feeds the addiction of the person that is being treated. In attempts to prevent withdrawal symptoms and eliminate the drug hunger,methadone treatment facilities offer a legal method for an addict to obtain their fix. .
Legal distribution of drugs to addicts does, at least, ratify some common inflictions brought about by the social arena of addiction.
In a junkies life their dependency is associated with tolerance, withdrawal, persistent desire and failed efforts to reduce or control the use of a substance. Spending large amounts of time trying to get the substance, using it, and recovering from its use.
In most cases an addict will give up important social and occupational activities because of the overwhelming desires to keep up with the dependency. Some of the social problems.
addicted persons encounter include, difficulty in holding jobs, maintaining stable marriages, making and keeping friends, obeying laws, and functioning as caring and responsible parents. These difficulties are related to the fact that getting and using drugs leaves little time for other activities.
The idea behind methadone treatment is to give the addict a means of returning to a lifestyle of normalcy, not controlled by the common associations of dependency. No longer needing to be involved in criminal activity that is prevalent with the purchase and sale of illegal drugs, or being included in the possible spreading of deadly infection and disease. Hopefully allowing them to become a productive member of society, unassociated with the "dark-side- of the drug addicts' domain. Obviously, as methadone is an addicting drug and patients are required to take daily doses of methadone,maintenance of abstinence is impossible. Instead, successful outcome is assessed by voluntary retention in treatment, increased productivity (as evidenced by employment or education), cessation of criminal behavior, and termination of drug abuse (Platt, and Labate 267).
