So she started offering an alternative to street drugs, first Dilaudid, then fentanyl patches, and now fentanyl capsules. Her project buys fentanyl from a pharmaceutical manufacturer and a local pharmacy combining it with dextrose and caffeine as buffers. These pills are sold for $10 a time, priced in line with street rates.
Dr. Sutherland writes prescriptions and patients buy them; if they cannot pay, the plan will cover the cost.
As nurses enroll new entrants to the program, they increase the dose over the days to find exactly what patients need to replace what they use on the street. Participants take drugs under supervision at first, to make sure they have the amount they need to avoid withdrawal (and no further, so that there is no risk they will oversell on the street) .) Then they can take down the drug-website to use.
The Opium Crisis
From potent drugs to illegally manufactured synthetics, opioids are driving the deadly drug crisis in America.
Chris has been a daily illicit drug user since he was a teenager. He receives 30,000 micrograms of fentanyl at the clinic every day. That’s more than killing a non-drug user – a doctor usually prescribes about 50 micrograms temporarily for pain control – but, after years of use, it’s just what Chris needs to get a quick euphoria. and prevent addiction. He said he hopes to return to work soon and then start buying from the show, the way he patronizes a liquor store.
Dr. Sutherland hopes that patients like Chris can gradually reduce the amount of medication they take, because they don’t worry about how they’ll score next to keep the pain of withdrawal – from ” dope” – in the heart.
Lisa James personifies the expected benefit of shows like these. Mrs. James, 53, has been addicted to heroin for 18 years. For the first eight days, each day begins the same grim cycle: She goes out in the morning and steals from the shops, then ships the goods to her boyfriend, who will resell it and use the money. to buy heroin. He would bring it home, where she was anxiously waiting, already nauseated and convulsing from dope.
