I was just wondering if anyone can explain why urban areas have more methadone clinics than rural areas?
365080
In a small town, a large-scale drug dealer is easier for the police to track down. Plus, without any Internal Affairs branch in so small a town, it's easier for cops to "bend the rules" to make users narc on their dealer. So, individual users have to travel to larger cities to make buys. Sure maybe one person deals to two or three friends, but 99% of the traffic is in the city. And, as has already been mentioned, small towns feel themselves to be above painful reminders that drugs exist, so while there's a comparable number of users per capita, there's less reminder about such things in small towns.
145874
I always hear 1 in 10 people.  The number would likely be higher in large cities and smaller in small towns, because many GLBT people choose to leave rural areas.
1067839
Many estimates are around 5% full recovery. Although it is interesting that in England where they prescribe heroin for certain medical conditions, that they seem to have virtually no problem weaning patients off of it. Perhaps if we used pharmaceutical grade heroin instead of methadone, we might have better results. Recovery from any drug addiction depends on amount, length and frequency of use. The prognosis is always better for people who have not used for more than a year.
880096
this is very true...we have terrible problems with TB in Miami, Dade County...not many ppl know about it...its from many nations in the Caribbeans ...I really don't want to name the countries, but I know of one that is absolutely famous for it!
385802
They work on an elevated platform to make it more difficult for the people passing by(including thieves) from knowing what drug they are working with.  This also insures patient confidentiality.  Hey, if you are getting treatment for a disease and you don't want the whole neighborhood to know...don't complain.
124799
The system has changed.  People are more integrated into the community these days--as they should be.  The cost savings from closing those hospitals can be better used by providing Community based mental health outpatient/residential services.
1023492
I live in a rural area.  Alcohol is a drug and we have a lot of deaths from drinking and driving in our area....at least 4 or 5 a year involving teens....I lost two classmates within a year of graduation from drinking and driving accidents (seperate accidents)....as far as o.d. on say, heroin, cocaine...etc....none like that....we have a fantastically huge number of deaths from cancer in my area.
188673
I believe that Rural is outside of a city and in the country side area, and suburban is an addition to an Urban center (city/town) around its' peerimeters usually.  Jose
512303
It sounds like you have a particular scenario in mind, so here goes...\n\nPeople who use street drugs develop a tolerance to them, so they need bigger and bigger doses to "get high." Sometimes they increase the dose too much and overdose. Another problem is purity. Average street drugs are only about 50% the actual drug, and 50% filler to increase the dealer's profit margin(although heroin has gotten much more pure recently...). When an addict gets drugs from a different supplier, he might get a different concentration than what he's used to and unintentionally overdose.\n\nCocaine and amphetamines ("meth") are stimulants. An OD on them can cause a heart attack, where the heart stops beating, blood flow to the brain stops, and the person dies. It would not cause any obvious lung damage.\n\nMost other drugs of abuse--opiates (heroin, oxycodone, vicodin, demerol etc.), alcohol, GHB, benzodiazepines (xanax, valium, clonapin) slow down the rate and/or depth of your breathing so you go to sleep and stop breathing. This causes lack of oxygen in the blood, and this causes brain damage leading to death.\n\nNeither of these paths will cause any visible damage to the lungs.  Most of the damage is at the cellular level, so to the naked eye, the organs look normal.
76881
Some of the things that our Justice System does never ceases to amaze me.  I have sat through many court hearings and it always surprises me that many violent offenders would get probation and the non violent or victimless crimes had the book thrown at them.  The whole system needs to be looked at and have some real changes made to it.  We have too many repeat offenders on the streets and not nearly enough people who have committed a violent crime behind bars protecting society.  Our government's war on drugs may have something to do with prosecuter's and judge's thinking when it come to those kind of crimes, because statisticly it will look like we are really cracking down on the problem, when in fact we really are getting no place with it.  Fact is drug users will probably find it easier to score while in prison than on the streets.  Nobody wants a prison or jail in their neighborhood,yet with our growing population we need more of them to fit our needs.  There will always be a portion of the population that is not going to play by the rules and be in trouble.  Those that we need to change is the Prrosecuting Attorney who makes all the deals and the Judge's that accept them.  These people are elected officials and if they do not act as we need we can vote them out.  You will find that one individual has a lot more clout in local county political races and can do a lot more by constantly working on the local level.  You can take a whole state by taking it one county at a time.  You will be surprised by how many people one voice can affect, you started by asking the question now take it a step further.
758359
Not just small towns, its the big cities as well.\n\nI could see how a small town can make it appear to be more out of control though.  But to be honest, local sherriffs should have it easier to solve because in smaller towns you should know the area, and the people.  And it wouldnt be that hard to find out whos responsible, and deal with them.\n\nCome on -- if you have a meth problem, or any drug problem in a small town, everyone will know about it.  Secrets are hard to keep in small towns.\nAnd it would be up to the local smokeys to put out the fire.\n\nbut then again, with the way laws are set up to protect the criminals, police have to tip toe around criminals and seem to limited in what action they can take.\n\nplain and simple - why do we have such a huge drug/and crime problem in this country -- Because our laws arent strict enough, and criminals arent afraid of breaking the law because we are not tough enough on them.\n\n3 strikes youre out!\nchild molestors and rapist, and even murderers get off with limited sentences.\n1 time -- you kill someone intentionally, Bam!  Death penalty\nConvicted of serial raping -- Bam, death penalty for all violent crimes\n\nThis would instill fear in future criminals, and if not,eliminate them so they cant commit again after they serve their sentence\n\nArmed robbery = life in prison\nChild molestation = castration\n\nuntil we instill hard punishments on these criminals they will just repeat repeat repeat, if not on the outside, then on the inside where they will be part of a circle that continues to manifest itself someway to the outer public.\n\nCase inpoint -- man kills a few people in cold blood.\nGets 30-life sentence.  why\nIf someone knows hes going to spend rest of his life in prison, he will adapt, and become one of those bullies that affects the lesser offense criminals.\nthis is where the indirect repurcussions of a too lenient judicial system are apparent.\n\nthose lifers run the joints.\nthey pick on the weak, and create the rapes, murders and drugs that happen within the prisons, because they adapt to their situation.\nAnd we have to shell out 12,000 a year for these people\n\nIf youre against the death penalty, then youre contributing to the rise in crimes within this country.
434391
Many people do. I prefer cities, but you're looking at Cleveland. Rural areas are for growing food and preserving wildlife, not for hanging out in.
375268
Methadone is a synthetic version of heroin. You don't have to be any level of "bad" before you can use it. If you are currently addicted to heroin and want to get off it, then you could use methadone. It doesn't matter how much heroin you're using right now, even if you only use a little bit, but can't stop doing it, you could use methadone.\n\nMethadone works in the same way as heroin, it acts on the same receptors in the brain. If you see a doctor who agrees to prescribe you methadone, you would start on a small dose and gradually increase it. You take it every day, usually first thing in the morning, but it's supervised daily consumption for a while to start with, which means you'd have to go to the pharmacy every morning for your dose. Your dose will be adjusted until you're on a dose which gets you through 24 hours without having any withdrawal effects when it's getting close to your next dose, and most importantly, you'll be on a dose which is high enough that you don't get any "hit" if you use heroin on top of it.\n\nMethadone IS addictive, and it's hard to get off in itself. But the advantages of using methadone are HUGE over using heroin. Firstly, methadone is safe. You never know what your heroin might be mixed with. Secondly, you take methadone orally. So you don't have the risks of infection and clots from injecting heroin. Thirdly, think of the money you'll save if you're not buying heroin every day. Fourthly, it's easy to overdose on heroin. You don't know what percentage of your bag is heroin and what is talcum powder etc. You won't be able to overdose on methadone because you only get one day's worth at a time until you're over the worst of it.\n\nI'd strongly recommend methadone if you have a problem with heroin addiction.
560681
i dont really have your answer, but please keep in mind - methadone is addictive in itself.  I work in the drug and alcohol field and some of our clients list methadone as a drug of choice besides heroin.
353134
I live in wisconsin, but from what I know you would have to go to a Methadone Clinic, they would prescribe and monitor your progress including watching you take the med right in front of them, which is part of the treatment. hope this helped?
142968
People think that meth is the most widely used drug, but it's not.  Meth is only the biggest problem.  Meth hurts and kills people so it's a big deal cause it's a huge epidemic.  BUT the most widely used drug in the US is weed!  You would be really surprised if you really knew who all smokes weed.  Doctors, lawyers, judges, cops...  Lots of professionals, not to mention non professionals.  I knew a guy a long time ago who sold it.  Half of his clients were UW professors.  My friends mom, who is very anti-weed, works at UW hospital and was telling me the other day that after 25 years there she just found out that over half the staff smokes weed!  Including doctors and nurses.  So you see, it is widely used, most people just don't see it.
1177961
Like any city, B'more has it problems. But I'm willing to bet the city with the worst drug problem is a smaller, more backwoods place - perhaps somewhere in West Virginia. The crystal meth problem out there far outweighs what goes on in Baltimore.