| By Bob Weaver
With most US drug and and alcohol treatment centers closed, medical treatment of addiction has been focused toward physician visits and methadone clinics.
Methadone should not be confused with "meth," the devastating illegal drug.
Treatment programs closed when insurance carriers decided not to pay for in-patient or residential treatment.
Those programs provided medical detox, time to recover from secondary withdrawal and were directed toward teaching tools to stay sober and clean.
Few alcoholics or chemically dependent individuals even qualify for short-term detox programs, whether they have insurance or not.
In the USA, most government dollars are spent on preventtion programs, although there is little indication the programs have prevented people from alcholism or drug addition.
Another big slice of money is spent on interdiction of illegal drugs, programs to stop their transport, flow and sale. Most evidence indicates interdiction is a failure.
Efforts related to controlling marijuiana is a multi-billion dollar effort, particularly placing users in the criminal justice system.
The US prison system is the largest in the world.
Still, few resources are available to deal with the problem head-on.
A large number of methadone clinics opened in WV as a viable way to help addicts recover, much in dispute with America's recovering community.
Now, a new study from the National Center for Health Statistics says
West Virginia led the nation in per capita methadone related deaths, with 99 in 2004.
The drug was once almost exclusively prescribed for heroin addicts trying to kick the habit.
Methadone has now become increasingly popular for use as a pain-killer, and is responsible for more deaths than any other prescription painkiller, including oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine and hydrocodone.
The NCHS study says methadone users between the ages of 35 and 54 were the most likely to die of a overdose.
Addiction is an equal-opportunity disease, affecting individuals from all stations and status.
Alcoholism and chemical dependency is genetically-driven.
Few alcoholics or addicts will be able to access treatment programs, although Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings are available in most communities.
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