Vicodin, hydrocodone, Lor-Tab, oxycodone, oxycontin, percocet. You have heard of them. They are a miracle cure for those in chronic pain, allowing people who otherwise would suffer needless unrelenting pain, normal lives. But these medicines also cure other pain - stress, depression and tension they can make anyone "feel better."
Thus, these miracle drugs are severely physically/psychologically and emotionally addictive. And they hook people that "matter" - professionals, wealthy, educated (white), so they are a REAL problem. Of course, they hook anyone, the poor, unemployed, socially stressed communities, also.
Good news! There is a cure. But, the cure is not for everyone. It is for the "good people" that succomb to opiate addiction. The cure is not "designed" for the "unworthy".
Come on over and I'll tell you about how this war on drugs looks like all other wars.
Buprenorphine is a narcotic. It is both an "agonist" and "antigonist" in opiate receptors in the brain. This gives it miracle properties. Used in appropriate doses, it locks on to opiate receptors stronger than any other common opiate and does so without the powerful high. The first few days do give a noticeable "high" or sense of well-being, that over a few more days, drifts back to the point of being unnoticeable. Elegantly, an addict attempting to chase the high, who takes more than prescribed or another opiate actually lessens the effect because the "antigonist" portion kicks in.
So, there is a drug that blocks other opiates, while "filling" opiate receptors and cannot be made stronger by higher doses. This makes it far more safe than methadone, which, if one takes additional drugs allows a greater high. Buprenorphine is far easier to get off of, with far less withdrawal than other opiates.
Most importantly, this miracle drug actually eviscerates the cravings for narcotics, even when one is in the stage where it is in the "background" and not noticed. I am told it is like having two big burritos and then offered a piece of pizza, you like pizza, but you are full and turn it away without any desire. It is as close to a silver bullet for opiate addiction as there ever has been.
Buprenorphine has been around for 50 years, indeed, it has been a staple of veterinary medicine for decades. It is a common prescribed medication in poor countries all over the world. But, in the United States, this miracle cure is only for the "deserving."
In the United States, buprenorphine was introduced as a tool to fight addiction in a pill combined with naltrexone. Naltrexone is an opiate blocker that is not absorbed in the body, except when used IV. The naltrexone was combined with buprenorphine to keep people from "shooting up" the crushed pill. This combination is known as a drug called Suboxone. Suboxone, despite simply being a combo of old medicines is not available as a generic and costs $6.00 a pill,(I have been told that 10mg Vicodin costs $5-6/pill on the street- which I am sure is a coincidence, right.) generally people take 2 to 3 Suboxone a day, making it unbelievably expensive b/c it must be taken everyday and is not covered by all insurance plans. Also, only a few specially trained doctors are licensed to prescribe it, even though it is less dangerous than the vicodin they all prescribe. Additionally, people who have fallen into opiate addiction often have lost their health insurance in the course of doing so.
There is a generic for plain buprenorphine but there are many problems:
The few doctors with special training that can prescribe it charge accordingly. One thousand dollars for the first appt. at one clinic I looked up to write this. Your family practitioner or internist, who charges $100, is prohibited by law from prescribing it.
Second, doctors are reluctant to prescribe the generic b/c Suboxone has the naltrexone to keep people from shooting it IV. So it is safer to unleash on the community.
Third, the generic is very, very, hard to find. It has been distributed only to Walgreens/CVS in the US and I am told that it is now on "back order" at most places. Lastly, this old, old, old, generic is priced at about $400/month, or 66% of the brand name.
To summarize, there is a drug problem that has stricken the homes of doctors, engineers, teachers, etc, and their teens. You know, people that "matter." Of course, it also afflicts the poor and unwashed masses.
This drug problem has a useful therapy tool! But the tool is purposefully being kept out of the hands of those that are undeserving, the "normal druggies" the poor, unemployed, often minorities that lack access to health care. The cure is given by very high priced "special" doctors who charge a fortune and the cure is far far far more expensive than the addictive drug. So, the usual sufferers, continue to suffer, b/c that is just the way it is.
The United States has declared war on drugs. Like any war the US fights, it continues to do so in a way that makes no sense. The Feds would rather spend money policing pot ( less dangerous than alcohol) money that could be used to fight opiate addiction. The war has its profiteers, the drug companies, and the rich are protected and benefit. The poor, in this war like any other, suffer needlessly.
One caveat, I am not putting down 12 step programs that have saved millions of lives, they often play an important role in opiate addiction and remain the best tool for alcohol, cocaine, and the valium type drugs. It is simply that this is a very effective tool, if not cure, to opiate addiction.