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Re: methadone? » stjames

Posted by Elizabeth on December 30, 2001, at 17:28:33

In reply to Re: methadone?, posted by stjames on December 29, 2001, at 14:29:04

> > > You also cannot tell, through any test other than toxicology, that someone is on methadone.
> >
> > I'm not sure what you mean by this -- could you elaborate?
>
> According to http://www.methadone.org/index.html
> (somewhere in there) reaction time tests are not slowed while on methadone.
>
> Or to put it another way, unless one does a blood/urine test (toxicology) there is no way to
> tell on is om MM.

I don't believe that you can necessarily draw that conclusion simply because reaction times are not slowed. Methadone affects different people differently, as do other opioids (such as codeine, morphine, oxycodone, and heroin). But anyway, you can't tell for sure that someone is on an opioid -- any opioid -- simply by observing them. Some people will get stoned and "nod," others will just be sick, some (like me) become activated, and some don't show much effect at all.

An addict who is maintained on a stable dose of an opioid (whether it's methadone, LAAM, heroin, or whatever) will generally not experience much (if any) psychotropic effect, although there may still be side effects. This is due to tolerance, *not* because of some special property of methadone.

The one outwardly visible side effect that's caused by pretty much every opioid (although it's only a hint, not a positive sign, that a person is on opioids) in pretty much everyone who takes them (including people who are tolerant, such as MMT patients) is pinpoint pupils. (Demerol is a notable exception -- it tends to cause dilated rather than constricted pupils.)

> The assumption is always that methadone gets you high, and therefor impairs one just like opioids.

Contrary to popular myth, it is possible to get high on methadone. People on MMT don't get high or impaired on it because they're tolerant to these effects at the dose that they're taking.

-elizabeth


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poster:Elizabeth thread:87700
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011222/msgs/88274.html