Halifax addiction recovery homes rethink methadone ban

With an increasing number of people taking methadone for opioid withdrawal, two addiction recovery homes in the Halifax area have altered their policies to help people trying to beat their drug problems.

The Marguerite Centre helps women recovering from substance misuse or gambling addiction in Nova Scotia, while Alcare Place serves men. The publiclyfunded addiction homes provide counselling, supportand life-skills training.

• Audio: Addictions workers changing thinking on drug treatments

They were refusing applications from people receiving methadone treatment because the recovery programs areabstinence based. Methadone is the most common treatment for withdrawal from opiates such as hydromorphone, Oxycodone and fentanyl.

At Marguerite, the biggest misperception was that methadone was a substitute drug used to get high.

Debunking myths and changing policy

"When we were turning them away there was nothing for us to turn them away to," said Lisa Mullin, The Marguerite Centre's executive director. The 11-bed facility in Timberlea is the only one of its kind for women in Nova Scotia.

"We kind of felt that it was a shame that somebody would receive methadone and then that was it."

Alcohol is "still king" but women recovering from opioid addictions are "creeping up exponentially,"said Mullin.

To help them, she said staff had to "debunk" myths about methadone.

Marguerite staff learned that someone receiving the correctly prescribed dosage is stable, and not high or in withdrawal, and able to receive programming help.

And if a resident was resentful she wasn't allowed to use her substance of choice while another was allowed to take methadone, Mullin said that became a lesson: someone else's methadone use didn't affect their own recovery.

Rethinking methadone

It didn't matter "whether somebody sitting next to them was on methadone," Mullin said. "We have no business dictating whether or not they take that medication," she added.

Rethinking methadone as a drug to treat an ailment, no different than insulin for diabetes, was a huge shift for both residents and staff alike.

"We were able then to untether ourselves from those myths and be able to do what we set out to do and that is to help women," said Mullin.

Since introducing a methadone pilot project last year, and then implementing a policy change, seven women have been able to receive care.

'I would not be where I am today'

AliciaChaisson, 27, is grateful. The Dartmouth woman moved into The Marguerite Centre in May after becoming stabilized on methadone.

"I truly believe that methadone saved my life," said the mother of three.

Her addiction started six years ago with a prescription for Dilaudid 2 to treat pain from kidney stones. Six of her friends have died from overdoses. She nearly did three times.

"If I didn't have methadone and counselling, I would not be where I am today, and that's five and a half months clean and sober."

She said she's planning to live at the home for a full year, and hopes to learn how to gain control of her life. She wants to eventually start a career working in a nursing home.

"I'm at The Marguerite Centre and I'm living a happy, healthy, normal life for the first time in my life," said Chaisson.

Wait lists

The Marguerite Centre accepts women for six- or 12-month terms. Currently, five women are on the waiting list, and three of them are opioid users, said Mullin.

Brian MacLeod, house director at Alcare Place, saidone resident is currently receiving methadone. Of the 12 people waiting to get in, five are addicted to opioids.