Why is Buprenorphine used nowadays in Detox Treatment for Heroin Addiction in Florida?

June 18, 2008

For thirty years, methadone was the drug of choice in the heroin treatment program in Florida. But recently, the FDA has approved another drug to be used for heroin treatment on a national level. This is buprenorphine. Most people who are looking for addiction treatment in Florida do not yet know that they have an option now with buprenorphine. In many ways, buprenorphine is actually safer than methadone in the addiction treatment program.

The first reason why buprenorphine is preferred by most people over methadone is that it produces much weaker effects, though it is an opioid similar to methadone and heroin, for that matter. The drug does not stimulate the brain like methadone does and for that reason, there are very less chances that the person will develop a dependency for this substance. This certainly means that the person will not overdose on buprenorphine, a possibility that exists with methadone. Buprenorphine is easy to stop when the treatment is completed. It does not require the lengthy phasing out mode that methadone requires.

In fact, because of the positive effects of buprenorphine, it is the drug of choice that is used in outpatient heroin treatment in Florida. In fact, heroin addiction treatment in Florida became a real possibility only because of the use of buprenorphine.

Buprenorphine treatment is safer, with fewer side effects and is also cheaper. If you are considering drug addiction treatment in Florida for a person with heroin dependency, it would be worthwhile to ask your counselor about how this treatment program works.

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