Customer Reviews

Methadonia

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was excited about this movie when I first heard about it but after watching it I realized that they fell victim to the "hype factor". What I mean by that is rather than give you an accurate impression of what life is like for 90% of those patients being treated at methadone clinics in the US, the director of this film instead decided to take a small sliver of unsuccessful Methadone patients and portray their lives as if they were the norm (trying to make for a better story). After-all showing a bunch of clinic failures falling all over themselves begging for money in the streets of NY would make for a much more interesting movie than a bunch of success stories about people that look just like you and me living ordinary lives. While there is a small number of clinics in depressed areas of major US cities which are like the clinic environment in this movie the vast majority of clinics have a very successful track record with patients that represent a wide cross-section of the communities where they are located. Sure at any clinic you can find a few people who just signed-up and are therefore in pretty bad shape. While you are at it you can even find a small percentage of patients who are not at all serious about their treatment, but you will also find that the majority of patients are successful in their treatment, working and living happy healthy normal lives. Methadone patients are often employed and work in everything from retail to medical research. Some are even senior citizens living on their social security. Many patients you will find are going back to school getting their high school diploma, many are attending college to further their careers, but no matter who they are and what part of the community they come from the vast majority of them are serious about their treatment and are drug free.

I'm always disappointed when I see videos with these so called methadone addicts stumbling all over, drooling, mumbling, etc. As at any respectable clinic if you came in acting like that you would not be given your medication. Clinics are run by doctors, nurses, and trained therapists. A clinic nurse or doctor will not medicate a patient who is obviously intoxicated. Clinics also perform random observed and un-observed urine analysis tests and will even administer a breathalyser to make sure patients haven't been drinking alcohol or using drugs while in treatment. And when you are in an actual methadone treatment program your daily dose of methadone does not cause euphoria, impaired motor skills and speech, etc. Some people will get a little tired an hour after taking it when they are new patients but that is nothing a cup of coffee can't fix. The people that you see who are on methadone and are obviously all drugged up are mixing other illegal or legal medications with their methadone or they are not legally prescribed the methadone that they are taking (therefore taking doses of methadone which are well above what would be prescribed to them had they been an actual patient at a clinic).

Methadone is an amazing tool in the treatment of opiate addiction (which is a very serious and complex addiction). You can take an individual who is in the height of their addiction living on the streets, stealing, etc. You can with the help of methadone stabilize this individual preventing any of the negative symptoms of withdrawal therefore almost instantly stopping their drug seeking behavior (which is the root cause of any addicts desire to participate in illegal activity). This individual is then able to concentrate on getting counseling, finding employment, finding a stable home environment, etc. None of which would be possible without methadone since the individual would have to continue their drug-seeking behavior in order to just prevent withdrawal symptoms.

Methadone is nothing short of a miracle for those addicted to opiates (both Heroin and also prescription pain killers). To show only one small percentage of patients on methadone, those who struggle much more than average will only serve to further propagate the myths and stereotypes which scare away potential patients every day from a treatment which may (if given a chance) actually save their life. And that I'm afraid is the sad truth...

This is a wonderful and important film. It is an accurate and compassionate account of drug addiction and of a population of opiate dependent people who also become addicted to benzos. It is very useful for the professional therapist and anyone curious. It made me more appreciative of the impact the witness has to someone's transformation. The filmaker is curious and actively listening to people we, the public, try to avoid. There are people who come out from the shadows and tell their stories with vigor. The soundtrack is incredible as well.

I watched this movie when it came out. At the time I was on methadone. I was extremely disappointed by it-this film only shows one side of the story of methadone. It only shows people who are still abusing other drugs. It completely ignores the large number of patients who do well on methadone and get their lives back. This film just perpetuates the negative stereotypes associated with methadone treatment. This serves to shame people who are doing well on methadone. A balanced documentary would have shown both sides-people who are doing well and people who aren't. Instead it plays into people's expectations by only showing the bad.

it seemed to me that some of these people were on "monster"dose's so much so they couldnt be productive if they wanted to.i know people who have been on maintenance for 30 years or more.and they work and are productive.being in recovery myself,i would never presume to say what a person should do to stay off of dope.but the down side of methadone maintenance is it is like a leash,its like the best you can hope for is 5 takehome bottles.the one guy in the special who wanted to detox,was discouraged by the clinic counselors,and taken down so fast that he got very sick and started using again.i dont know if the clinics in nyc are federally funded or not.but it seemed to me that the clinic had a vested interest in keeping people on meth.i believe there should be a "ceiling"dose,and the opportunity to safely detox if thats what the person wants

This was a terribly done video about the methadone maintenance program. First off. People are not supposed to be using other drugs whilst on the program. These people were all using benzodiazapenes and it made them look like a bunch of junkies. Methadone if taken correctly is a life saving treatment. If taken with other drugs it then defeats the entire purpose behind the program. Those people are a disgrace and hinder the progress of not only thier recovery but others that may watch this video without any real knowledge. I would suggest the A.T.Watchdog site if you want to correctly take methadone for positive outcomes. Methadone is not a drug to get high on it's a medicine to stabalize your life on to get rid of bad habits aquired over years of negative use. This video is a farce and worthless.

This trash is insulting to the millions of people who's lives have been saved by methadone treatment.
Some people with the disease of addiction have a harder time with recovery than others, just like ANY OTHER ILLNESS. To focus on those who are not getting good treatment, or are not willing to try to get well would never be tolerated if we were talking about diabetes or hypertension, or epilepsy.