3.  Opiate dependent people who are in treatment with methadone live longer

People who are living with opiate dependence have important choices to make when it comes to drug treatment.

One reason to consider methadone is the proven fact that opiate dependent people have better health outcomes if they are in treatment with methadone.

General speaking, people who are in treatment with methadone:

don’t go into withdrawal

don’t have physical cravings for opiates (psychological cravings are reduced or eliminated)

can’t easily feel high from other opiates

(yes that was a review from number 2!)

But there is more…

Statistically speaking, opiate-dependent people who participate in methadone treatment:

have fewer relapses

are less likely to have a drug overdose

are less likely to become infected with HIV (or if they are already infected, less likely to transmit the virus to others)

are less likely to become infected with Hepatitis C (or if they are already infected, less likely to transmit the virus to others)

are more likely to be successful in treatment for HIV or Hepatitis C

are less likely to commit crimes

are less likely to be incarcerated

are more likely to hold a job

are more likely to have a home (and less likely to be homeless)

are more likely to have stable relationships

are more likely to have custody of their children (and less likely to lose custody of their children)

are more likely to have a successful pregnancy and healthy baby (for pregnant women who are opiate dependent)

are less likely to be the victims of violence

are less likely to spend time in the emergency room or hospital

are more likely to experience the feeling we call “normal” (many people say “this is the first time I’ve felt normal, like myself, since before I started using”)

…and opiate dependent people who participate in methadone treatment live longer than those who do not!

Yes, live longer!