MMT and MMJ

[Griffin (OP)]

So after posting in another thread it made me wonder what everyones thoughts were on this subject. I copied and pasted my reply to that thread here so that I can get everyones opinions on the issue. I also wanted to see what ideas people had to helping me get MMJ allowed for MMT patients. It is a state wide regulation stating that if you fail for THC than you are not allowed to be given take-homes. I believe that there are a lot of medicinal qualities to marijuana and that the pros outweigh the cons in this particular situation to allow mmt patients to smoke weed and still be able to move forward in their treatment and receive take homes.

I want you opinions whether you are for or against allowing MMT patients the right to smoke weed, I think it should be allowed only if its medical marijuana which is kinda a sham because anyone with $100 can get a medical license to buy weed in the state even though it is legal recreationally. Even though it is available recreationally lots of people still get there medical license because it is cheaper. The weed is usually cheaper if your a medical patient and the taxes are lower so you save a lot of money by being a medical patient. I want to be able to smoke and still be able to move up in phases so that I can be back to getting 2 weeks at a time. It helps so much to have that privilege not only on gas money and time but just all around it makes life easier to not have to goto the clinic 6 days a week. Below is my reply to another thread and I will add more as I go along

I wish I could just smoke weed and get take-outs from my clinic. I haven't smoked in 2 years because I am on probation. I can now smoke because they just passed a law in May allowing people on parole and probation to smoke in Colorado if they have there medical card. However if I do smoke I won't be able to get any take outs and I want to get back to getting 2 weeks at a time which is only 9 months away. I get my first phase Monday which means I only have to come in Monday-Friday this Saturday is the last one that I will have to come in and dose which is great because it always takes 20-30 minutes to dose on Saturdays.

Sense I am prescribed benzos I can take them and still move up in phases and get take-homes. I think that if I could smoke the feeling of wanting to get high or feel something different would go away. It is a state wide regulation that if you fail for THC it counts as a failed UA and you can't receive take-homes. I think it would also help me finally stop taking benzos because I wouldn't need it for sleep and the urge to feel something different would be taken care of. I have cravings from time to time about just wanting to feel something and I don't necessarily want to get high on opiates but sometimes feeling normal 24/7 I have cravings for whatever that will give me a different feeling and I use benzos to satisfy that need.

 Maybe I can start writing my legistlature and post something at the clinic and tell everyone to email or call their senator or local legislator and say that It is a medical prescription. There is no reason that they should not be allowed to smoke if it is a prescription from a doctor. They have no right saying that you can't take a medication that is prescribed to you by a doctor who knows you are on MMT.


The clinics would save money because they would have less people coming in and dosing on Saturdays so it would be less time for everyone to wait and less work for the staff. People could be on lower doses because it helps with certain types of pain and other things and maybe they would choose not to use other drugs if it was allowed. Sense those people who smoke know they are going to have a failed UA and can't move up in phases to get take-homes. It wouldn't matter to them if they failed for drugs other than weed so maybe it would curtail use of drugs in that way as well. My counselor disagrees with it and thinks that people should be allowed to smoke especially if it is for medicinal purposes. If you smoke and don't get take outs you're required to do 2 groups and a counseling session each month. If the people who only smoke weed could move up in phases they would be able to save money because they wouldn't have to run as many groups and Saturdays wouldn't be so crowded and people wouldn't have to wait 30 minutes no matter what time they come in.

What do you guys think? Should I go over the legislation that just passed to allow people on probation and parole to smoke for medical reasons and kind of swap some words around to make it for allowing MMT patients to smoke if its allowed by their doctor as long as said doctor knows they are a MMT patient. Then just add the benefits of allowing those people to smoke on that as well and send it to all the clinics and start a petition and post it up at my clinic so they can just email there local legislature, senator, and the Governor to see if I can't start my own little grass roots movement?

The reason that they are now allowing mmj for people on probation and parole in Colorado is fucked up. It got passed because a pedophile brought it up through the courts until it got to the supreme court and got a bunch of attention and then the lawyer who was helping that chomo wrote up the legislation and it got passed because of that. So if a fucking chomo can cause this much racket and get it passed for us people on parole and probation. Than we MMT patients should be allowed to as well.


Any ideas, information, opinions, and everything else would be much appreciated. I thought I would make a thread about this because I want to smoke and I think that it would help me stop my benzo use. Even though I only use benzos a few days out of the month which are prescribed to me I think if I was able to smoke I would be able to sleep and a lot of the drug cravings that causes me to use benzos would go away and I would be able to quit using them and be on something a lot healthier.


Griffin

[Lolleedee]

My clinic just stopped testing for marijuana last month after a new director took over.  The reason I think it should be allowed is two fold.

The first point is that marijuana has no known interactions with methadone.  Unlike with benzos, weed doesn't add to respiratory depression and doesn't contribute to overdose.  With the current climate change in recreational and medicinal marijuana, I have a feeling that most clinics will eventually drop the THC screening.  It amazes me that in CO of all places has a rule reguarding weed and takehomes.  But, up until last month, so did we.

I agree that if people are allowed to smoke, we might see people on lower doses, less benzos and a lot of happier people.  I also think that methadone clinics are there to treat opiate/opioid abuse only.  I know some people are poly substance abusers, but the clinics purpose isn't to treat every addiction.  I agree they need to screen for drugs that have known, dangerous interactions with methadone and not allow those to be used, but marijuana is pretty benign when used with methadone.  I think testing for it is a complete waste of time.

When the new director came and stopped the THC testing people who were originally denied take homes are now starting to phase-up and that is great to see.  Since the new director came, they have instituted a zero tolerence policy for benzo....unless prescribed by a psychiatrist only and then the clinic has to directly speak to said psychiatrist.  Considering most methadone overdoses happen to to mixing with benzos, I think that is a good idea.  Of course, I don't use or like benzo so I'm sure that policy would suck for others.

On a side note, the clinic does NOT test for fentanyl which I find absolutely incredible. 

[Diacetylmorphinefiend]

I don't even care about take homes. They are talking about discharging me from the clinic for smoking weed. Fucking Alabama man I am going to forfeit my life for smoking weed.

[Griffin (OP)]

I don't even care about take homes. They are talking about discharging me from the clinic for smoking weed. Fucking Alabama man I am going to forfeit my life for smoking weed.

That is exactly why I think there are more pros than cons with allowing people to smoke mmj it basically is like saying that your treatment isn't as important as our rules and sense you can't follow our rules we are going to allow you to get treatment. I just dont understand it but I am very interested in opinions on why people think that you shouldn't be allowed to smoke weed just so that I can observe the other point of view because to me I think it would be more beneficial to the entire clinic and the patients there. I can understand how people might think that smoking weed my lower your will power and make you want to use heroin but that seems like 1930s propaganda to me. by saying if you smoke weed you are not fit for treatment or that you have a failed UA for thc and that is the same as failing for heroin or whatever you DOC is then I could see why people who can't move up because they smoke weed wouldn't care if they failed for heroin or benzos or coke or what ever sense it seen in the same light.

[Anti-hero]

The main issue is the lack of education.
On drug use
Most of the guidelines are written
By people who have never done drugs
No medical training.Or common sense

MMJ is still seen as a gate way drug.
The way the whole MMJ system is run
Is akin to the way it was during pobition
And getting a doctor to prescribe alcohol.
It's was just a passive move.
Yes MMJ doctor oh MMJ yea you need it wink wink.
Pisses me off because of all the evidence
That marijuana does good.
It's not there lack of knowledge
They said it was a gateway it is
We're all just stupid junked out losers
Who have no idea what drugs are about.

Treatment or MMJ
We 'll I would go with treatment
One of my maim reasons for not
Going to treatment not lack of want it's the rules
Why are you not allowed all the benifit of the doubt to start with
You have to prove your self to get take homes.
I showed up at the clinic voluntary
Asking for help
And have to prove myself daily
#FUCKTHAT
The KILLER INC stories I have read
Are just nightmares
And to have this intertwined with a lifesaving treatment
Just a shame IMHO

So yes you can have all the alcohol you want
The drugs that don't show.up on uas
But a joint? That's bad mmmKAY
Goes to show there ignorance towards the whole treatment

[Pullmyhair.]

I would not be surprised, at all, if this is actually a company policy and not legislation. Clinics and clinic workers are notorious for claiming something is law as opposed to company policy because they are either stupid or it's easier to just say it's law than to justify/defend illogical or idiotic policies. You should call your state methadone authority (every state has one) to see if it is indeed the law, and if so, file a complaint with them and then also contact your clinics accrediting agency (CARF or JCAHO) as its anesthesia their recommended 'best practice'. It's absurd they'll allow you takehomes while taking benzos but not if you're on MMJ.

[Anti-hero]

I would not be surprised, at all, if this is actually a company policy and not legislation. Clinics and clinic workers are notorious for claiming something is law as opposed to company policy because they are either stupid or it's easier to just say it's law than to justify/defend illogical or idiotic policies. You should call your state methadone authority (every state has one) to see if it is indeed the law, and if so, file a complaint with them and then also contact your clinics accrediting agency (CARF or JCAHO) as its anesthesia their recommended 'best practice'. It's absurd they'll allow you takehomes while taking benzos but not if you're on MMJ.

True the number of deaths involving MMJ and methadone 0
The number of deaths involving benzodiazepines they don't count them cause it's not in their interest.

I really wish the drug czars would get some common sense.
In America we are such fear mongers, and we accept the fact that
We should be scared cause they said so

[Griffin (OP)]

I can't agree more with you guys. My counselor who thinks it is bullshit was the one who told me it is state law. I believe him on everything he says because he is straight forward and been doing it for 17 years. He is an amazing person and just a very understanding caring person he hates all the regulations he has to go through and believes that they usually do more harm than good. I will call and see if it is state law though because either way I want to try and get something about it done. I just don't see how a doctor can prescribe you everything under the sun and you get to take it with your methadone no matter how dangerous it is but if he prescribes mmj you are not allowed to have it... It's so stupid imo. My doctor was prescribing me benzos, clonidine, and generic 30 mg opana while I was on methadone and that was all fine to take however I didn't take it. I was more stockpiling for a rainy day and then the cops ended up taking it all.


It is just like me having a breathalyzer in my car for my methadone DUI, its more about money now a days I haven't had a whole beer to myself in over 4 years and I haven't even had a sip of one in 2.


Griffin