Letter to the Editor – Replacement Drugs

This Letter to the Editor is solely the opinion of its author.

It does not reflect the opinion of this newspaper.

Jason Good

Narconon Colorado – A Life Worth Saving

Opioid addiction has been the main culprit behind our country’s drug crisis for nearly 25 years.

Addiction to this class of drugs has been so severe that many attempts have been made to find a cure or “silver bullet.” Since the withdrawal syndrome from opioids can be completely so painful and vile, it’s usually feared more than death by users.

The emotional and physical discomfort can be far too much to bear, so replacement drugs became the easiest way for people to get off whatever opioid they were abusing and get a “soft landing.”

Methadone, Subutex, and Suboxone are the most used replacement drugs. Since these drugs still contain partial opiate agonists, the person is still on the same type of drugs they were abusing, they’re just getting them from a pharmacy rather than a dealer or a friend.

Drugs like Suboxone or methadone were only designed to be used for a short period of time for acute detox, but unfortunately, it’s pretty common to talk to a person who has been on one of these replacement drugs for years, so it’s not a good solution. A person winds up becoming dependent on one drug to stay off of another, so the cycle of addiction never gets broken, and the person spins their wheels, at best.

I believe the best type of addiction recovery is doing it drug-free, without the help of other drugs. In my opinion, it doesn’t make sense to try to cure drugs with drugs and from my own personal experience, taking Suboxone or methadone just delays the inevitable. If you want to get clean, confronting the idea of detox is a necessary evil, but it’s an evil that will wind up saving someone’s life. 

For more information regarding Narconon Colorado, visit: https://www.narconon-colorado.org/blog/drug-withdrawal-fears-calmed-without-replacement-drugs.html