Recent law enforcement statistics tell us that of people recently busted for drug trafficking, a substantial number of arrests involved prescription drugs rather than street drugs.
That in itself is not surprising, but one particular prescription drug stood out, Suboxone.
It is used by doctors to treat addiction to opiate drugs.
“Suboxone is a Schedule III drug. It is an addictive narcotic and now we know it is available on the street, despite controls and cautions of the FDA,” said Bobby Wiggins, senior Drug Prevention Specialist at Narconon International.
The story is similar to what happened with Methadone once it was released as the miracle solution for heroin addiction decades ago.
Methadone clinics sprang up everywhere.
In some states fleets of mobile Methadone clinics began criss-crossing cities and counties to save addicts from heroin addiction.
At first Methadone was a hero.
Its claim to fame was that people addicted to illegal heroin no longer would have to engage in criminal activity, because they could get a longer lasting, legal fix at their local Methadone clinic.
Today, even though still dispensed from clinics, Methadone is considered a dangerous street drug, responsible for more overdoses than traditional street drugs, and capable of causing more brutal withdrawal symptoms than the drugs it was designed to supplant.
Suboxone has become a medication of choice because doctors need a solution for record numbers of patients hooked on painkillers they or other doctors administered.
Suboxone was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002 as an addiction-treatment medication.
It's a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. It’s an opioid blocker that works to discourage its user's desire to abuse heroin and oxycodone-based medications like Percocet, OxyContin, Vicodin and the like.
Suboxone and its generic versions are prescribed by primary care physicians.
That means patients take a quantity of the drug home in either tablet or film form.
It also means that it can easily be abused.
All Suboxone illegally trafficked today is procured directly from doctors who are specially certified to dispense it.
Physicians apply for a special waiver to prescribe it, with approved applicants limited to 30 patients in their first year and no more than 100 patients total.
Patients seeking addiction treatment may travel a substantial distance to meet with a doctor approved for a buprenorphine (Suboxone) waiver.
With more than 500 doctors approved to prescribe buprenorphine in Tennessee alone, multiply that by 50 states, and the potential supply of the drug is substantial.
Weighing in on the controversy, Sheriff Patrick Ray told the Review that the two drugs present an increasing problem in DeKalb County, and pop up frequently on the illegal market.
“These drugs are highly addictive,” the sheriff said. “We actually buy these drugs in our undercover drug operations. We also find that people will trade other prescription drugs for Subutex or Suboxone.
“It is a drug that people want, and there is a big demand for it,” Ray concluded.
Suboxone was once a carefully monitored narcotic sanctioned by the FDA. The status of the drug is changing even as more and more doctors prescribe it.
Criminal activity is now part and parcel of its story.
It is also known to be addictive with its own very severe withdrawal symptoms.
Overdoses, especially in combination with other drugs, can and do occur.
“Ultimately, trading one addiction for another is not a solution. The person who has become addicted to pain medication needs help to fight the addiction, not another drug to take its place,” said Wiggins.
For information on how the Narconon Program successfully handles pain killer addiction without the use of any drugs, contact 800-775 8750.