Can you quit heroin without using methadone?
Yes. All that is needed to quit using heroin is a strong desire to quit. In many cases methadone simply moves the addict from one drug to another. Although methadone may help to make the life of an addict more stable, it also has longer, and worse withdrawal symptoms than heroin. A newer drug called suboxone is a much smarter alternative to methadone. Suboxone does not get the user “high”, it only keeps withdrawal symptoms from setting in. Therefore it does not continue the cycle of getting high. However, it still causes physical addiction. The withdrawals from suboxone are not nearly as bad as heroin or methadone, and the addict can be tapered off of the drug very slowly, causing minimal withdrawal symptoms, and very little craving. However, using suboxone or methadone will only lengthen the time it takes to be independent from opiates. If one is strong enough, the best way is to just quit cold turkey, and then focus on staying clean.
