Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction

by Judith Grisel

Methadone acts as a substitute opiate—one that is orally absorbed and has an especially long half-life. Drinking a daily “cocktail” at the clinic prevents withdrawal (as well as antisocial activities that help keep withdrawal at bay, like stealing and shooting up in public places), and because the drug is so cheap, it’s been seen as of great benefit—though likely less to the addicts than to members of their communities. Recently, however, methadone has been used in younger and younger addicts. This is especially tragic, if not unethical, from both a neurobiological and a social perspective. Because methadone is such a long-lasting opiate, when prescribed with the clinical goal of keeping the brain soaked in the stuff to stave off withdrawal, it produces an immense addiction. This drug is even harder to kick than heroin; the latter is hell, but for a relatively short time. Therefore, to prescribe a drug like this to people barely out of their teens is to condone “maintenance” that is in some ways a life sentence akin to housing the mentally ill in the back wards of state institutions: they’ll be less trouble for the rest of us, but unlikely to have much of a life.