His name is Amir Parekh.
Please read this excellent brief report. and, if you feel so inclined, congratulate him for his observations.
Business, Not an Addiction treatment Center
On a Sunday afternoon, on March 29, 2015, I
took the liberty to explore a methadone clinic. A quick Google search pulled up
ACT methadone clinic. I headed east on Bloor street to 1288 Danforth Ave. The
street was not busy when I arrived at the clinic. It was not hard to miss. “Now
Accepting patients”, “No waiting list” caught my attention almost immediately
as I drove past it.
I walked in to explore the atmosphere of a
methadone clinic. To my surprise, it was a barren and blank 100 sq. ft space
with 9 chairs. From the moment I walked in I had a feeling of being in a
business, not an addiction treatment facility. There were no brochures, posters,
reading materials, or counselors readily available. The addict/customers were
lined up at the window and business was booming. I waited in the waiting area
for 15 minutes listening to what people were saying and doing. Most were
impatiently waiting for their fix. After not being greeted and seeing no clear
instructions I walked up to the pharmacy counter and explained to the pharmacist “I am a student, doing some research and
wanted to take 5 minutes of your time to discuss what you are doing here”. “Go
to the other window” the man expressed, as he was not interested in speaking
with me.
The second window had a receptionist who was
not very helpful, and was bitter in attitude.
I explained to her the purpose of my visit and she requested that I
receive ‘written consent’ from everyone in the clinic, before we could discuss
the clinic. As this was clearly not required, I kept digging by asking very
general questions, until she got frustrated and called over a manager. The
regional manager, who has had no addiction counseling experience or training,
explained the 2.5 year cycle that is prescribed to addicts. They start with
supervised dosage in the clinics, and as time lapses the addict is able to take
their medicine home. The concentration of the dosage is lowered with time and
regular urinal tests are performed to monitor the progress of the treatment.
What’s unique about ACT methadone clinic? Well, it cycles its patients of
methadone clinic in comparison to other methadone clinic which keep their
patients on methadone for life which can be a costly endeavor. “Most of the information
is available on the website” ended the brief interview.
Most addiction treatment services such as
Alpha House or Narcotics Anonymous rave about their success and foster a very
busy, open, loving and caring environment. Everyone is welcome and every one
could and should share. This is meant for the addicts to not only replace their
addiction with meaningful activities but to face their demons that lead them to
the dark path of addiction in the first place.
This translates into an addict developing core strengths, a strong
foundation and a very deep and meaningful support structure. In the few
interviews I have conducted with addicts, one theme is a constant. “Okay. I
stopped doing drugs, Now What?” The “Now what” can be the answer between
relapse leading to irrational behavior, criminal in bulk, or a clean, sober and
productive life.
A study conducted to analyze costs for patient
clinic visits, laboratory test for urine toxicology screening and methadone
scripts for 9479 patients in Ontario yielded the following results. The data
set represented information from January 1, 2003 to December 31,
2009."There were 6,425,937 patient-days of treatment and the total cost of
all treatment-related services was approximately $99,491,000. The total cost
was comprised of physician billing (9.8%), pharmacy costs (39.8%), methadone
(3.8%), and performing urine toxicology screens (46.7%). The average cost per
day in treatment was $15.48, corresponding to $5651 per year if patients were
to remain in treatment continuously.”[1]
As of 2009 it cost $5651 per year for an addict to be on methadone, but it is
estimated to be at $8476 per year, a 50% increase, as of 2015. In essence a
good (Non-Lifer) methadone clinic that plans to “rehabilitate” an addict in Ontario
provides a treatment plan that costs $21,190 to the tax payers and takes 2.5
years.
In conclusion, though the government believes
methadone clinics to be an effective route to heal addiction, there simply is
no foundation or support that these programs provide thus making the results of
these programs temporary at the very best. Mostly, if addicts don’t relapse
they will likely be addicted to methadone just like any other drug they were
previously addicted to. These clinics
lack oversight, control and regulation. The negative impact of methadone
clinics is well documented and this is a going concern for the addicts and
society in general. Our precious tax dollars ought to be allocated to programs
and initiatives that are proven to work, instead of experimenting with programs
such as Methadone clinics that are designed to make addicts comfortable and are
based on ideologies instead of an evidence based approach which requires hard
work, Love and Discipline.
[1] S. Zaric, G., W.
Brennan, A., Varenbut, M., & M. Daiter, J. (2012, July 11). The cost of
providing methadone maintenance treatment in Ontario, Canada. Retrieved April
14, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3626407/
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