I agree with 2ala2, Glassprisoner and Timebuster. IMO, drug replacement isn't being clean.
If you do not agree with this.... then does being on any/all PRESCRIBED medications mean that you're NOT clean??
Of course being on
any or all prescription meds doesn't mean one isn't clean. I take blood pressure meds everyday and I'm clean, but my blood pressure meds aren't prescribed as a substitution for another drug that I became addicted to. I wouldn't consider my clean time in danger if my doctor prescribed an antibiotic. All prescribed meds aren't given to people to help them avoid the discomfort of withdrawal, now are they? The way you ask your question leads me to think that you're justifying your methadone usage...and that's the whole point for many people who view methadone or any
drug replacement therapy as not being clean. For many, it boils down to choice instead of necessity. I'm sure that there are those that may require methadone, but since I'm not a doctor...I can't determine who does or doesn't. What I do know is we addicts are great ones for manipulating the truth and experts of self-deception (including manufacturing additional pain as an excuse to use).
Exjunky wrote: I think it really depends on the person. If I have a glass of wine with dinner tonight, I would still regard myself as "clean", but that's only because I am not a recovering alcoholic......
But methadone users don't get high on their methadone, at least not after the first few days, and I think that's what counts the most, the sobriety....
Well, Exjunky,
I'm sure you would refer to yourself as "clean" after a glass of wine. You refer to yourself as clean now, although you've admitted to smoking weed on a regular basis. I don't know about you...but I can't speak for
ALL methadone users, but I will share that I've witnessed numerous methadone users still getting high MONTHS after they've started it!! They weren't sober, clean or in recovery. They were using...and all but one returned to full-blown active addiction.
Narcotics Anonymous has a bulletin on methadone and drug replacement programs:
http://www.na.org/bulletins/bull29.htm
I'll close by saying that NA teaches that reservations robs us of the benefits of recovery. It is my belief that the person who doesn't know their "clean date" probably has a reservation that they can successfully use again or are substituting one drug for another.