A Drug for a Drug? the Ugly Truth Behind Suboxone Clinics

William Bogan

Mrs. Watson

English 1111

Oct. 3rd, 2016

                          A Drug for a Drug?

                                              The Ugly Truth behind Suboxone Clinics

Medicated assistant treatment (MAT) has been rising as one of the available treatments for substance use. The number of treatment centers are continuing to grow across the country. This type of treatment is known to prescribe addicts with medications like suboxone and methadone combined with counseling in order to help treat their opiate addiction. By providing an alternative substance to prevent addicts from using heroin and other opiates, these centers are just giving the addicts other drugs to be dependent upon.  There are pros and cons to this kind of treatment, but in the grand scheme of th^[a]ings they are not fixing the problem, they are exacerbating the problem.

Suboxone is a prescription drug used to prevent opiate use such as heroin and prescription pain medication. It is an opioid partial agonist, it helps relieve symptoms of opioid withdrawal by blocking the effects of other opioids and ceasing the withdrawal symptoms that cause addicts to continue use. It also does not cause euphoric feelings and has a lower rate of abuse. Long term substance abuse has negative impacts on the brain and can actually alter the brain makeup and leave addicts frequently searching to fulfill the craving for drugs and or seeking drugs to prevent the terrible effects of withdrawal. In addition to combatting these two physical symptoms of addiction, suboxone allows the addict to focus on treatment rather than the addiction.

Opioid use triggers the brain to produce dopamine, giving the user a euphoric feeling and ultimately causing the brain to want more. Extended use causes the brain to produce less dopamine resulting in a buildup of tolerance that leads the user to need more of the drug to feel the euphoric state.  After continued use of heroin and other opioids, addicts are now turning to suboxone clinics and suboxone doctors. Suboxone facilities have been increasingly popping up across the nation as the prevalence of opioid addiction has increased.

The idea of suboxone makes sense, a miracle drug that combats opiate addiction. However, in hindsight^[b], it is actually a replacement of one drug with another. Despite the low abuse properties and decrease in the rate of overdose, this drug is in fact still a drug. There are many side effects of using Suboxone^[c], such as continued use and over indulgence in the drug. In small doses suboxone manages addiction but after a tolerance builds up^[d], the addict needs to increase their medication for it to become effective. On the flip side^[e], the addict can actually abuse the suboxone medication by increasing the dosage.