comment: >
  
  I have a cousin who is a fall-down junky loser. Before I cut him out of my life, he would sit on the couch drinking methadone out of the bottle like a beer. I never understood how he kept getting more
context: I go to a clinic. I was over prescribed opioids and then they tried to cut me off cold turkey. Anyway right after they started giving out take-homes to people who didn't qualify (dirty piss test) I was leaving the clinic one day and watched the guy walking down the street open up his take home box and do one after another. >
  
  All the opiate addicts I know would say methadone only postponed and worsened their withdrawls.
  It really feels like it's just a weaker opiate they give to the serious addicts to calm them down. >
  
  It saved my life. I tried to just cold turkey it on and off throughout my using "career" (15 years ish) but never made any progress. Got on methadone, stabilized for 3ish years, then started tapering. Been off of it for a little under 2, but the benefits have been nothing short of miraculous for me. 
  Just thought I'd add an anecdote, not trying to argue or anything like that. >
  
  It's all good, I'm glad it helped you >
  
  Word, thanks. I'm pretty stoked about it too haha. That whole song and dance of active addiction gets fuckin tiring. Shits basically a full time job >
  
  The whole point with a methadone clinic is that A) People are far less likely to overdose and B) every time they go in, they have access to resources to help them get clean, and C) to reduce drug related crime and disease spread
  Covid was an exceptional situation, but the fact overdoses increased when the clinics couldn't function as intended is a testament they were working properly. >
  
  It is amazing to me how people have walked back the intended purpose behind MAT clinics over the years to the point that now it's basically 'well, at least people are less likely to overdose because we've replaced their addiction with one we can control and profit from.' No shit people aren't overdosing as much because all they did was get a better, more well funded dealer with a cleaner supply. I bet you'd find that overdose among regular opioid users buying from the streets would increase if their dealers gave them a few extra grams of heroin to take home, for whatever reason. That does not at all mean that the clinics are functioning 'as intended.'  I thought the whole point of a MAT clinic was to help people get fucking sober. What happened to that? I guess we've just given up on that bit because it's so incredibly rare. Or, are we finally admitting that MAT clinics don't really help people get clean at all, so now we can just taut their lack of efficacy after twisting it around and just calling it 'harm reduction.' And also, what resources? The vast majority of patients I saw wanted to come in, dose, and get out as quickly as possible. >
  
  Not everyone is ready to completely quit or have the will to deal with the mental craving right at this moment. Would you rather that they get kicked out from any program due to inadequate compliance, and they end up buying from the streets? People who wanna go into detox would have gone already regardless of if MAT clinic exists. Why do you have issues with MAT filling the gap to reduce OD and mortality ? >
  
  No amount of treatment or medication is going to give someone the willpower that they need to really fight for their own sobriety. I elaborated more on another post and don't have the energy to explain my view. I know it's not going to be a popular one. People should do what they feel is best for them, but for me, I think we will lock back at the overabundance of MAT clinics in a decade or less with the same abject horror that we do the over prescription of opiates that kicked off the opioid crisis. I think it prolongs addiction, dangerously so, and people are getting absolutely rich from it. First they were exploited by pharmaceutical companies, and now greed has simply taken on a new face. "We're sorry everyone got addicted to painkillers, so here's some MORE medication to fix it! Trust us this time!"
  As I said in my other post, I have been on both sides of this. My experience working at a MAT clinic was very eye opening for me, and there is a reason why counselor turnover is as high as it is. Most of us knew it was bullshit, and we couldn't do it anymore.
  Sure, I'd much rather someone come and dose than risk shooting up and dying, absolutely, but we need to really take a look at the narrative that MAT clinics love to push: MAT can help you get clean. A lot of my patients had been on methadone for years and had no desire to try and taper, and that really is the ultimate goal for these companies. Patient retention. Not because they care if you die, but because you coming to dose means they're getting their money. There is rarely ever discussions about actually getting free of addiction completely. They simply want you to stop buying from the streets, come to the clinic instead, and then become a patient indefinitely. It's wrong. That's not addiction treatment, it's addiction replacement.
  If you're fine with that, go for it. If you don't care about no longer being addicted to something, give it a shot. If your goal is to use but mitigate your chances of dying from it, absolutely start going to a MAT clinic. But I do not believe this bullshit narrative that they are there to help people get clean, or even for harm reduction. They are there solely to profit from addiction. And they are. >
  
  Yeah if you give an addict what they want of course they're going to go crazy with it. It's so sad.