It is an unfortunate truth that a number of Americans become addicted to drugs during their lives, and such drug use can negatively impact one’s life, such as spending habits, loss of a job or social life, and spending all their money on their drug habit. Heroin and other opiates are common among those who use drugs, and those addicted to heroin may end up continuing their habit or try to find ways to end it. Sometimes, getting away from heroin involves using methadone instead, but sometimes, a person will simply develop an addiction to methadone instead, and they will need intervention such as a detox and rehabilitation clinic to free themselves of various drugs. How often to Americans use drugs, and what can be done to free themselves?

Rates of Drug Use

Some drug addicts in the United States use opiates such as heroin, and the main ways to break that drug habit is such methods as heroin detox and heroin rehab. How often are Americans using drugs, and how often are those drugs opiates or other painkillers? A 2014 survey, for one thing, showed that 2.7% of people aged 12 and over in the United States were dependent on illicit drugs during the prior year, and this may often include painkillers. In the year 2015, for example, some 591,000 people were suffering form a heroin use disorder, and among them, 6,000 were adolescents and 155,000 were young adults (such as those in their 20s). Four in five heroin users launched their drug habits with the misuse of prescription painkillers, and estimates show that 23% of those who use heroin become addicted to opiates. 20.5 million Americans aged 12 and over had a substance use disorder in 2015, and among them, two million had disorders related to prescription painkillers and 591,000 were abusing heroin. This can be deadly; drug overdose has established itself as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with a total of 52,404 such deaths taking place in the year 2015. What can be done to curb such rates of drug abuse and accidental death?

Solutions

Often, those who quit opiates and other hard drugs “cold turkey” have difficulty becoming clean without medical intervention, and one such method intervention is methadone, which is a drug that can be used to dull pain and to help someone medically get themselves freed of an opiate addiction. Such a drug is carefully regulated and used by medical professionals as a method of helping those addicted to opioids, and a person can find such clinics in their area with online searches such as “closest methadone clinic near me” to find the names, addresses, and other information on nearby facilities for methadone inpatient treatment. A person can also ask their doctor or other medical professional “where can I find the closest methadone clinic near me?” to get professional guidance about treating their drug addiction. A concerned family member or friend of an opiate addict may also search “closest methadone clinic near me” on the addict’s behalf to find treatment for them, especially if done as a matter of intervention.

A person attempting to kick a drug habit on their own may face challenges or even risks in this process, since they may easily relapse into their drug habit, and if they use such substances as methadone without supervision and medical help, they may end up making the problem worse, and there will not be trained professionals on hand to help out in case of emergency. For this reason, an addict should seek treatment from a facility where staff and medical equipment can help make the detox and recovery process faster and safer. This is why searching “closest methadone clinic near me” is a good idea, and a person can be taken to such a clinic to begin their recovery. They may expect challenges dealing with overcoming their addiction, and there may be both physical and mental stress and side effects related to this, but the patient will be supervised, and they can go into rehab once the detox process is complete. This can set them on the road to recovery and leave their drug habit behind them for good, and retake control of their lives.