METHADONE ADVOCATE TRAINING, AT THE AATOD CONFERENCE IN ORLANDO.REGISTER NOW...................Make Copy of Poster for your clinic

Type or Paste text or Web address (beginning with http://) here: Translate from: English to ChineseEnglish to FrenchEnglish to German English to ItalianEnglish to JapaneseEnglish to Korean English to PortugueseEnglish to SpanishChinese to English French to EnglishFrench to GermanGerman to English German to FrenchItalian to EnglishJapanese to English Korean to EnglishPortuguese to EnglishRussian to English Spanish to English

Powered by Systran

I THOUGH YOU WILL ALL LIKE TO KNOW THAT THE FLORIDA METHADONE ADVOCATES WEB SITE HAS BEEN GIVEN AN UNSOLICITED AWARD

This is your site and you have given a lot of the links that are in the site what it is. So lots of you have to take credit for this award. Thank you.

The Webmaster.

---

You can also Find Out about Medical Marijuana by clicking here

If any of you have any other ideas to make this site more appealling please email me at Webmaster@FloridaMethadone.zzn.com. This is your site, we just maintain it.

Many of you have asked me about opening clinics, employment and other subjects where contact needs to be made with other people. Please click the small banner and place a classified add to make contact with others relating to methadone and harm reduction activities.

METHADONE WATCHDOG MESSAGE BOARD ENGLISH
WE SPEAK METHADONE
Easy methadone Prescribing for clinic staff and patients
Visite Buletin de Mensajes En Español (Spanish)
Noticias Semanal En Español
Message Board & News for Florida & Southern States
Florida Methadone Clinics
New Florida Methadone May 2003 Regulation
Sparkly Brand New Federal Regulations
Bitch and Gripe from the patients at Beth Israel Methadone Program
World Methadone Website	>The Harmreduction News Letter
The Incrediable Ibogaine and its use to detoxify from Opiates

The National Treatment Plan Statement About Stigma from Brown University Alliance Projet "We envision a society where people who are addicted to alcohol or other drugs, people in recovery from addiction, and people at-risk for addiction are valued and treated with dignity; and where stigma, accopanying attitudes, discrimination, and other barriers to recovery are eliminated. We envision a society where addiction is recognized as a public health issue, a treatment disease which individuals should seek and receive treatment; and where treatment is recognized as a specialized field of expertise." MORE THAN 3/4 OF PEOPLE WHO ARE IN NEED OF TREATMENT IN THE UNITED STATES ARE NOT RECEIVING TREATMENT, The simple question is, WHY??

Survey <" img src="http://www.commission-junction.com/banners/tracker.exe?PID=648741&AID=310102&banner=310102%2Egif" width="468" height="60" alt="Click here to download freeware" border="0" align="right">

FlClinics	Donations	Membership	OpenClinic	AdvoLinks	GuestBook	Traductor
Fl.Regs.	NewFedRegs	NAMALinks	Chat/Consult	ClinicsWorld	ClinicsUSA	HeroinDeath
Grivance	ADAMethadone	AmDisAct	DRCnetMethad	JCAHOstand.	HeroinTimes	ARMS-Advoc
ProjectSero	EXTACY	Improve Treatment	OpioidicTopic	EffectiveDose	AccreditGuide	LAAM
CounselCompetency	COPSAgainstWar	JAILmethadone	FREEe-mail

For more information about the conference e-mail TO NO ONE YET, I WILL TELL YOU IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE

You are visitor number Okay, so here is the best I can do to get this Florida Methadone Regulations on this site. I have been trying for weeks to load it on the site. I was finally able to get pretty good. As you can see I am not a computer wiz, my accomplishment is in bad spelling. It will be to the benefit of most Florida Methadone patients to get involve in their own treatment and make suggestions to this regulations. Too frequently, patients have been told that some thing or other couldn't get done because it was against either federal or state regulation. Now you have access to both. I had always learned from counselor and administrative types in the mental health and drug abouse field that the more patients get involve in treatment, the more value that the patients will get from treatment. I hope this is not just paying lip service and that they really mean it. After all "whose treatment is it anyway????????" E-mail me at Webmaster@FloridaMethadone.zzn.com INTRODUCTION These pages are created by a conglomorate of methadone advocates (and a few conserned active drug users) through out Florida and the U.S.A. Each has contributed either important parts or information to the construction of these pages. We hope to up date or add links to this site frequently once we get it going. If you would like to help e-mail us a Webmaster@FloridaMethadone.zzn.com. Your suggestions will be given serious considerations. After all, "whose treatment is it any way???". You will find information both in English and Spanish (use el traductor, que se encuentra como un enlace arriba a la derecha de este sitio web para traducir estas paginas al español). Such information will include the locations of all methadone clinics in the State of Florida as well as links about clinics through out the U.S. and other countries of the world. You will also find Florida's and federal methadone regulations. You will find links with other methadone advocate organization, both national and international, as well as, links of extreme importance for active IV drug users. Florida ranks disturbingly high for the Hepatitis and Aids Epidemic among IV drug users. Much help is needed to make methadone treatment a lot more accessable and available (and discorage diversion). We also need to take a look at other harm reduction (este sitio también en Español) procedures, such as clean syringes. If as a nation we want to truly claim concern for human lives, as well as human health, rights and justice for all, then we most have the courage to take a look at harm reduction procedures, for drug users who may very well be someones sons & daughters even fathers and mothers, friends and colleagues. In fact, smaller than expected number of heroin active addicts commit crimes to support their habits. It is documented that more than 70% are employed and other percent receive benefits for physical disabilities, retirement and veteran benefits not related to drug use). I do not wish to give the impression or totally deny the problem, but when they commit crime it is usually petty theft. Still is a problem for those who commit the crime and those who loose their property. But the point is that those who are committing crime and get into treatment do turn their lives around. In essence, drug use by itself is a victimless "crime". It is a strange kind of law where the victim of addiction is also the criminal in the case. Drug users and addicts do not make formidable enemies of the U.S. War on Drugs. Accessable treatment, is more effective and much cheaper than making criminals out of them. It takes the cost of encarcerating a human being runs on the average $20,000 per year to the tax payers (perhaps we should be sponsoring prisoners to go to Harver University, we think is cheaper). The cost of methadone treatments runs about $3,560 (more if you count the cost of daily travel to the clinic and other insidentals) most of it payed by the patients themself. But they could use our help. To most patients, specially if they are recovering, this is an absorbitant amount to pay per year. Yes, yes much cheaper than the cost of heroin addiction, but nevertheless if these patients are trying to live a straight life, when a new methadone patient find entry level employment, this still become a great burden to his/her budget. I can tell you from personal experience, that at least methadone patients (yes, even heroin addicts) are a decent group of people, you will find the crooks, the cons, and the thiefs. This condition has been repeated time and time again, each time that we humans have choosen a new "Face of the Enemy". Every time we have had a group of people that we have decided to oppressed like the Jews, and the Blacks, the "Majority" look at those groups with mistrust and suspicion. Yes, yes but remember reading in our history books that even the good Christians of the Roman Empired were oppressed and persecuted. Eventually being blamed for the fall of the Roman Empired. The pagan gods were angry that the Chistians were wordshiping only one God (HOW DARE THEM !!!). Those that have been oppressed have needed to resort to "criminal behavior" to survive (I remember seeing films of nazi propaganda showing jewish getto kids stealing so they could eat, I know it is not totally the same, but there are a lots of similarities). Tell A Friend About This SiteFREE E-Mail http://FloridaMethadone.zzn.com Expert Witness Radio We believe that we are providing you with information which is very relevant to methadone patient. We are also including information of importance to the active illicit user. We will like to serve you as well as we think we can. If you find any other web pages that you believe we should link with, or have any suggestions to improve this web site, we would appreciate you sending us an e-mail or guest book message providing us with the e-address and a summary statement of it's importance. If you have any question please do not hesitate to write us at our e-mail address. In Florida at Webmaster@FloridaMethadone.zzn.com, in Alabama at GaryThurman_714@yahoo.com. Gary is my committed colleague in Alabama. I am mentoring him, but he does quite well by himself. We also hope, that you would consider joining us as an advocate, so you have the opportunity to make a contribution to a workable methadone system. We hope that we are serving you well. We have links on these pages that are commercial in nature. Whatever purchase are made, the money collected goes to support our projects. We hope you'll find them in good taste. For Methadone En Español, Metadona y Reducción de Daños/Riesgos. (Para encontrar la pagina de Methadone En Español porfavor)Click under (abajo): Click Methadone En Español This narrative link was reasently closed by its owner. We are working on translating this same pages with different links for spanish speaking patients. Este enlace fue recientemente cerrado por el dueño sin darno ningun aviso. Estamos trabajando en traducir esta misma pagina al Español con diferent enlaces en espanol. Methadone en Español, Pagina de Mensajes (message board) Before I close this session of this page, I will like to make a call to pharmacist, all state pharmacy boards, policy makers and all citizens of the world to de-regulate the sales of syringes. Pharmacist need to determine if the syringes requested are to be use for "legitimate" purposes. We most allow for the sales of syringes with out prescriptions to stop the spread of blood borne diseases. One "underground" syringe exchange will exchange close to a quater million syringes a year. Indications are unfortunate, that a pharmacist would be willing to sell a syringe to a person in an upper middle class with out a prescription, than a pharmacist in the inner city. Syringes become much easier to buy at pharmacies when one is in a more wealthy areas. This does not help those who are most at risk. Not until just a few years ago, perhaps in the late 60s early 70s did the drug paraphenilias laws started to be enforced. We truly need to take a look at our societies, attitude to the poor and minorities. Are we truly such civil liberaterians? Do we realy believe in equal rights?? ADVOCATE/ADVOCACY/APOYADOR The Webster's Dictionary defines advocate as some one who pleads the case of another, defends, one that argues for, maintains, supports, recommends a cause or proposal before the public or tribunal. For almost forty years, methadone has undergone extensive scientify studied and reviewed. In the mid nineteen nineties The American Psychiatric Association, The Institute of Medicine and The National Institute of Drug Abuse amongs others, publicly started to come out of the closet, sort of speak, and voiced the results of the review of the scientific literature on methadone. In summary, they concluded that methadone treatment has significantly better results than any other modality for the treatment of the opiate addict. Much have been studied and much has been written, all of the research results and availability are beyond the scope of this web site. However, we will provide referances to other sites to help you get informed. Simply to say, that methadone significantly improves the lifes of those in treatment. Their over all health improves, as well as their employment and social abilities, their (petty) crime rates sharply goes down. This is only but a summary. The National Institue of Drug Abuse has lead and funded the large percentage of methadone research. The Lindesmith Center and the Drug Policy Foundation have lead in the areas of research, public presentation on drug policy reforms. Linking with the three previously mentioned organizations at the begining of this paragraph call also lead to important methadone information. Also consider visiting and subscribing to the Addiction Treatment Forum . They change their sites frequently and are a giant in providing accurate information on methadone and other drug addictions. If you would like to learn more about methadone, appropriate medical, counseling and clinical protocols, we recommend you first start by reading TIP#1 "The State Methadone Treatment Guidelines"(also available en Español, Les Français y Italiano), Also TIP#20 "Matching Treatment to Patient Needs In Opioid Substitution Therapy" These are FREE and fairly simple reading books. They can be obtained from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, Email them with your request of literature. These are a United States Federal Government publication based on research (with thousands of referrances studies). You can also get it by calling 1-800-729-6686 to order this TIP#1 and #20(Treatment Improvement Protocol). Also ask them for their catalog, as NCADI have numerous other information on opiates and treatment. The link on How to Open a Methadone Clinic will give you a list of NCADI relevant material (in order of importance). The best advocates that can ever be for you and other patients at our clinics can be ourselves. Thus, it is in our best interest to become educated consumers. No one can take away what we know and have learned. You will not be alone, there will be us and the federal government and State Methadone Authorities. The Feds, advocates and many patients wants you to become involved in your own treatment. Good advocacy will be good for both the clinics, and the patients. It will mean that you and the other patients will receive good treatment, and the clinics will have a good reputation for providing good services. "Professionals needs to understand that by empowering methadone patients that they are empowering themselves. Only by patient/professional collaboration can the entire methadone community work towards reducing the stigma associated with methadone treatment" (Part of a NAMA Proposal, presented at the American Methadone Treatment Association Conference,last April 2000). The advocates wish to work with clinic staff and directors to improve the treatment of patients. Nancy F. Neman, MA, CPC Clinical Director of New Hope Behavioral Health Center in Tucson made it very clear when she very insightfully resently said "Ironically, we as methadone providers expect MMT program participants to willingly tolerate conditions that we might not tolerate ourselves", "MMT programs need to remain cognizant that state and federal rules and regulations, along with individual clinic policies, have the potential not only to contribute to patients' feelngs of shame, but to actually induce them". This is the kind of corrage and committement that should be admired. Too many professionals prefer not to think that unwillingly they might be producing more harm than they dare to admit. Too many times, the patients are blamed and labled as "resistant", "in denial" or some other professional lingo to explain why the patient is not getting the intended result from a "wonderful counselor like me". A number of links in the site are ment to do just that, provide good information to staff. We hope that cooperation is the direction will go in the relationships between clinics and patients, there is too much at risk for patients. To put it bluntly, Corine Carrey, an attorney with the Legal Harm Reduction Project in New York City said "...we need to care about the lives off whom we collect our salaries". Also the idea is that by federal regulations (related to all federal programs) and professional ethics indicates that YOU, the patient, is the most important person in treatment. In each and every step of your treatment plans YOU, must agree and clinic staff must provide goodfaith and reasonable plans by discussing it with you before written and signed. You and the clinic staff most make a good faith effort in your behalf. Again, "Whose treatment is it any way????". If you have any difficulties, we suggest you do assert yourself and follow up with whatever issues are causing problems, but do reframe from arrogancy, cursing and aggressive behavior that may jepordise your treatment (I know from personal experience that your instincts might be different [you might even be correct]). But never, ever put your treatment at risk. Work though our grievance procedure. Methadone advocacy is gaining tremendous amount of credability at high levels. This is because we have intentionally trained ourselves and have been persistent in all our endevors. If you need assistance you can email us. If need be, we can make an appointment to chat. This invitation is open to patients, as well as family, and friends, or anyone who truly have an interest on issues of quality methadone treatment. The good methadone clinics, treat their patients like a partner in treatment. In a win, win enviornment. Setting the events for such conditions rest with the clinic staff and it's policies. We know that this can be a very hard job in deed. But if it wasn't taxing sometimes, then it wouldn't probably be that inportant,....................................... would it??? Dr. J Thomas Payter's clinic, in Texas and Dr. Marc Shinderman's, in Chicago (there are a number of others like Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City) are models of such clinics. Methadone programs who sponsors and support patients advisory groups are taking a positive step in that direction. They will attract patients for treatment. Quality assurance, something that has been missing in many of TODAYS methadone programs, is one of the main bases of the New Methadone Federal Regulations. Accreditation, from the Center of Substance Abuse Treatment of methadone clincs and/or staff is part of the agenda in the New Federal Regulations. An example of a very poorly run Methadone programs is the Miami Veteran Administration Medical Center. According to anectdotes from Viet-Nam veteran addicted to heroin, who have tried to gain assess to the veteran's methadone treatment program indicates the staff demands have obsurd conditions for admission to treatment. Sample is that clinic staff require three clean urines before admission in the methadone program.(Since we first announce this, the VA has change their policy to 3 clean urines. Just as wrong, patients have to go for a weeks worth of evaluations. Federal Guidelines indicate that the patient should be dose within the first half hour after begining admission proceedings). Other veterans have complain that they have only been offered outpatient 21 days detox instead of maintains, with out the patient being stabled, homeless, and reaching the final stages of a terminal disease. They are also limiting the patient to only two years of treatment. The MiamiVAMC also keeps a top of 50mgs. when research shows low dosage is fequently setting most patient up for failure and shows that high dose are safe. They ASS/u/me that patients are going to compeat with each other for the highest dose, when research indicates that most patient take what ever dose is appropriet for them, some go for as little as 35mgs while others need more than 100mgs. It depends on the patients metabolism and biological needs. Come on VAMC, do your medical research!!!!! and stop playing God with patient's lives, making up rules that are senceless. As we understand it, the MiamiVAMC keep patients at very low doses. When a patient have a laps, staff have a zero tolerance policies that terminates patients immedietly, instead of increasing the patients dose. The last word we've heard (April 2000), is that they have only about 10 patients in methadone treatment (in July we've heard they have 18, we like to think that we have made a contribution, but does not matter as long as they do it right). Such is that the largest percentage of elligeable veterans are not in treatment or getting methadone treatment from private methadone maintains programs not the VA. This information has not been verified (but data and anectdotes are being collected). What has been verified is that all of the veterans we have spoken to have very similar complains. For someone familiar with methadone treatment this conditions would be almost comical, except for the seriousnes of the situation. The Enablers, plan to request an investigation and verified conditions at the Miami VA Methadone program. (as of April of 2000, contact was made with Barry McCaffre, the Drug Czar who indicated that he will look into the conditions at the Miami VA methadone treatment program, we will follow up until the VA prove to be an adequate treatment facility) In an age of Aids, Hepatitis and overdose, that is no way of treating our veterans who fought an unpopular war, but served nevertheless. As far as we can tell MiamiVAMC is ignoring medical research and appropriet federal guidelines. In reviewing their patient's manual, we assert that MVAMC are not following federal guidelines outlined in the State Methadone Treatment Guidelines, and we are sure that the VA staff are not aware that the U.S. Center for Subtance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)has developed new guidelines for treatment of methadone patients. We are sure that they will fail accreditation procedures and this is not acceptable. After 30+ years of methadone research, we believe it is inappropriet that any methadone treatment center will be so antiquated. If this conditions are true, it seems that Miami VA methadone program is mal-practicing. A NEW ERA Almost forty years after methadone maintains was established, the director of (search=methadone Sept. 25, 1998) the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Barry McCaffrey spoke to the American Methadone Treatment Association on a new set of methadone federal regulations. The Drug Czar, asserted that this new methadone regulations will make methadone treatment significantly more flexible and available. Immedietly, this brought new hope, the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates and other groups leaped into action. At every step of these procedure methadone advocates have been participating. When the initial Methadone Regulations Proposals were published, the two existing methadone patient's message board Methadone Information Exchange & MethWerX/WatchDog exploted with expeculations, and editorial comments. There was a vast volume of support for patients to respond before the 90 days of the Request For Comments gracing period by the Food and Drug Adminstration. The monitoring of Methadone Treatment will be transfered from the FDA to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Hundreths of reponses mainly by individual patients and groups were sent before Nov. 19 1999. Perhaps for the first time, in methadone treatment history patients were sure of their rights. Requesting to be treated like any other medical patients. In a nation whose public publicy has gone wacky, frequently caprichous, and arbitrary (some times even criminal, mixed with atrocities) about drug issues. The clinic system has lead to some very inappropriate practices in part of the staffs. The advocates will and are bent on making right. With continue assertion of our needs, dignity and integraty we will make those needed changes. In an era where the methadone patient is treated less than, and stigmatized requires tremendous amount of persistence and integraty. Let's do it!!! There will be a link in this site, to orientate visitors on steps on how to open methadone clinics, which are much needed in Florida and else where (for example, Miami-Dade County has five Methadone clinics, while a comparable city like Greater Phoenix Area of Arizona can economically support fourteen methadone clinics. For now you can link with "Starting a Patient Run Program". The authors are methadone patients who opened a clinic some years ago. You need to remember that as of mid 2000, monitoring of methadone treatment will transfer from the Food and Drugs Administration to the Center of Substance Abuse Treatment (a department in SAMHSA). There are a few details that are missing, but over all, this is a great guide and should help start exploring your direction to open a clinic. If you are in a location like Fort Meyers or Gainesville where there are no clinics. Current (and new) federal regulations allows for private physicians office to provide methadone treatment (contact your methadone authority for details). Who knows, you might start a much needed service on a small scale in your community. If you intent to do so, it should be much easier with the new regulations to open a clinic and obtain methadone from private physicians. I do suggest impecability. If you plan to open a clinic you will need to do a Needs Assessment Survey TAP#3 and also read Approval & Monitoring of Narcotic Substitution Treatment TAP#12 and Treatment of Opiate Addiction with Methadone TAP#7, available from the National Clearinghouse. You can email us and we will give you leads, directions and answer many of your questions. ONE LAST THING We The Enablers have a major goal in mind: A state (hopefully one day a whole country) were methadone treatment can be obtain on demand and the methadone patient will never be terminated (even for inability to pay) from treatment. Unless the patient requests detox volunterly. Detoxing proceduresShould use TIP#19 and TAP#7 Treatment of Opiodic Addiction with Methadone: A Counsellors Manual should be as facilitating and as symptom free as it is scientifically possible. This can be found in the Technical Improvement Protocol also available thrugh the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. Any thing else will be risking the lives of too many voting citizens. IF YOU WANT TO REGISTER TO VOTE, PLEASE CLICK ON THE "TABLE MARQUEES" ABOVE AND IT WILL DIRECT YOU TO STATE BY STATE VOTERS REGISTRATION. Vote on Election Days, so that they RESPECT us....Ooor someone else will do the voting for you. To learn about the cookie and statistics we keep on our visitors, please click on the blue square. We think this information is harmless. E-mail me if you think different. HeroinTimes Heroin Addiction & Recovery are some of the subject of this online magazine. These pages are dedicated to John F., of TexNAMA, who was equal to the task as chair of the American Methadone Treatment Association proposal from NAMA, Jim C. of Philladelphia, a Methadone Enabler of the hightest quality. Also we like to thanks Jack Jacobson and Phil Emenheiser with the State of Florida Dept. of Mental Health, knowing that they are on the job and working in their office has always been conforting to us. Finally, many thanks are given in the memory of doctor Ben Sheppard MD Jpd. a pediatrist and juvenial judge. Until his death in 1981, the only methadone advocate in Florida we knew. We can only hope that his legacy lives in these pages. And, to Joycelyn Woods, Vice President of the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates, the driving motivational force of neo-methadone advocacy. This site is NOT © copyrighter, each link might be, you have the privilage (perhaps the responsibility) to quote, copy, distribute and provide suggestions. To some degree the site belongs to you, the Florida Methadone patient. We only made it available and are responsible for it's maintains.