Methadone Clinics

Although it may be inconvenient to go to a clinic for addiction treatment, the benefits typically outweigh the inconvenience. If you are using methadone for addiction treatment, you must obtain your doses through a licensed facility. A healthcare provider cannot prescribe the medication except for pain treatment; however, he or she is a good resource for referral to a clinic for methadone treatment.

What Are Methadone Clinics?

Methadone hydrochloride (Diskets®, Dolophine®, Methadose®) is a prescription narcotic used to treat pain and addiction to opioids (such as heroin). Methadone clinics are specially licensed facilities set up to distribute this drug for the treatment of addiction.
 

Must I Get Methadone Through a Clinic?

If you are taking methadone for addiction treatment, you must get it through a clinic.
 Although any healthcare provider licensed to dispense narcotics can prescribe methadone for pain (and any pharmacy that sells narcotics can sell methadone), only clinics can provide methadone for the purpose of treating addiction, although there are few rare exceptions to this rule.
 
Although going to a methadone clinic can be inconvenient, the benefits of treatment usually outweigh the inconvenience. Because treatment can help people lead productive lives, it is usually worth rearranging your schedule (or your living arrangements, if you live too far from a clinic) to make things work.
 
It is helpful to remember that if you "prove" your commitment to staying clean by meeting certain requirements, such as random drug testing, your "take-home" doses will increase. After two years of successful treatment (if you have met all the requirements), you may be able to receive take-home doses for a full month at a time.
 

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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;
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