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Methadone Anonymous Forums :: SPEAKER/SPECIAL EVENT :: METHADONIA...The Filmmaker, Michel Negroponte :: An ongoing discussion with MICHEL NEGROPONTE
Carol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *ADMINISTRATOR*     Forum Queen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posts: 3241 Registered: Jan 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 11:20 AM   IP              Hi, all.......keep leaving your comments and questions! Mr. Negroponte will be at the forum at 1:00PM EST (Eastern Standard Time). Let's all take advantage of this unique opportunity! smoooooooch........Carol CAROL SHOLITON President/CEO METHADONE SUPPORT ORG. http://www.MethadoneSupport.org Carol@MethadoneSupport.org COME CHECK OUT OUR MAIN WEBSITE!!!!
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 12:23 PM   IP              Carol, I think I've registered correctly and I'm in your forum. Please confirm. Thanks, Michel
Carol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *ADMINISTRATOR*     Forum Queen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posts: 3241 Registered: Jan 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 12:43 PM   IP              Yup.....you are here! You can answer posts now! You can either scroll down and click on Mona Lisa/"reply". Or.....you can fill out the "quick reply" field at the bottom of the message and then hit "reply". GLAD YOU MADE IT!!!!!!! smoooooch......Carol CAROL SHOLITON President/CEO METHADONE SUPPORT ORG. http://www.MethadoneSupport.org Carol@MethadoneSupport.org COME CHECK OUT OUR MAIN WEBSITE!!!!
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 12:45 PM   IP              Zenith, I started this project - over two years ago - when Millie (the group leader) invited me to sit in on her group at NYCATS. At that stage, all I knew was that the film would most likely cover some aspect of addiction and recovery. I spent two months visiting the group without a video camera - several visits per week. I got to know the group members very well. It was by visiting, listening and talking to individuals in the group (before and after meetings) that I learned about some the specific issues that this particular group of addicts in recovery were confronting. One issue was the use of benzos on top of a prescribed methadone dose (clearly a disaster). But because this film, from the beginning, was going to focus on this one group, the people in the group essentially dictated the direction of the film. Furthermore, this type of filmmaking is really about "process". I did not set out to make an anti-methadone film. I had no agenda. My aim was to make an intimate character study and allow the people in the film to speak for themselves. So clearly my approach was very narrow: one specific group of recovering addicts, and how their lives would unfold over a period of time. Also, from the beginning I knew I would remain focused on the group, not include interviews with methadone "experts", and try to describe as honestly and directly their experiences in recovery. [Edited by michelneg]
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 01:00 PM   IP              I may be the only one in the forum! So let me continue with some other issues. The reaction to "Methadonia" has been overwhelmingly positive. I can't begin to tell you the number of emails and phone calls - almost all of them very supportive. I think the reason for that is most people know nothing about recovery. The film describes vividly how difficult recovery can be for some people. It gives recovery a face, heart and soul. And most people express great empathy for Steve, Bill, Mario and all the other characters in the film. Also, the vast majority of people who see the film believe it sends a great message out to younger people. Teenagers can make choices - fast, uninformed choices - that can impact them for the rest of their lives. Because Methadonia focuses on middle-aged and older addicts, young people see and hear the testimonies of people who would give anything in the world to turn back the clock of time and change choices they made as young people. It's a tough but important message.
Bobby Power Poster Posts: 143 Registered: Aug 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 01:14 PM   IP              Mr. Negroponte, I am SURE that you understand that ALL methadone clinics do random UA's. In that context, anybody found using a substance (benzo's, in this case), would be written up, possibly forced into an administrative discharge. Clinics do NOT allow the use of substances other than what is prescribed by a physcian. In your film, and even at what you said during the film, that you had no idea where this film would lead, you found a very small **subset** of the population of methadone maitnenance recovery subjects, augmenting their "highs" with benzodiazepines. It is a proven fact the vast majority of people in MMT do NOT use other substances, first of all because they are in recovery, and secondly because they could get kicked out of the program for doing so. However, this is NEVER mentioned in your documentary. I think what happened here is that you very narrowley discovered a few people who, however they did it, were using benzos with methadone. This is not the case in the **real world**. I wonder if you could have, at least, spoken with some proffesionals in the field of methadone. I think they would say on camera that it is a life saving drug, because some people have neurological causes which precipitate opiate use/abuse, and that methadone is their only help at this juncture. I do applaud you for making this film, as it brings to light the plight of the narcotic abuser and the methadone user at large. However, you say that it should provide the public with empathy for the plight of the addict. That is where you miss the point Mr. Negroponte, we are IN RECOVERY, we will most likely always be addicts, but we are not active in our addictions. Your film depicted almost fifteen minutes to a gentleman that was falling asleep and drooling over himself, after injesting the "ever increasing combination of benzos and methadone". Tell me sir, how would that ever provide "empathy" from a public that does not understand addiction and it's root causes? If anything, I can forsee a lot of advesaries of methadone clinics using this film in a planning commision meeting for a reason NOT to have it in their community. Would you want to see somebody stumbling around, nodding off, and drooling over themselves in YOUR community? This just does not happen at clinics, and if it does---it certainly would not be tollerated very long. God Speed~~ Bobby i Bobby
Susie Member Posts: 21 Registered: Jan 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 01:35 PM   IP              Hi Michael, First let me congratulate you on getting such a popular cable tv station to air your documentary, Methadonia. I saw the first hour but unfortunately did not get to see the last 30 minutes. While I enjoyed the film and learning about Mille and the people in her group, I was disturbed about many things. Please bear with me as I am not an IDU and I have never been in recovery for anything. I do however, have hepatitis C, a disease that many in recovery are battling and I do spend a lot of time in methadone treatment centers because I developed a program to educate the clinicians who work in substance abuse treatment facilities. I have presented the program to 100’s of clinicians in 16 states in the United States. We also have an educational program for methadone patients and have spent much time with groups of patients from teens to the elderly. I don’t understand why you called the program Methadonia as there really was no talk about the positive impact methadone has had on many patients. It seemed to me that anything said or implied about methadone shed a very negative light on this medication that has saved the lives of so many. Mille’s group seemed to have nothing good to say and talked much more about benzos and how dangerous they are and how many people use them while they are trying to recover. There are no methadone clinics I can name that allow the use of benzos for their recovering patients. I know this because when my program was in development, we learned that benzos, like methadone, are liver friendly drugs that don’t harm a hepatitis patient’s liver functions. We asked many clinic directors if benzos were allowed as an adjunct to therapy for their anxious patients. 100% of the time the answer was no. Your film made it seem like benzos were routinely used and abused by patients. This was not my finding. Patients in recovery who are infected with hepatitis C have two chronic diseases; that of addiction and that of a chronic liver disease. The stigma for these patients can be overwhelming and can create barriers to a healthy life through treatment with methadone and treatment for the virus for many people. I felt that your film increased that stigma. The people in your film, let’s face it, did not look like “healthy” productive people. In fact they appeared quite downtrodden. While I have occasionally seen people like that in methadone clinics, the majority of patients look like anyone you would see walking down the sidewalk on Wall Street, Madison Avenue or 42nd Street. I’d like to know if you would consider doing another film that shows a “typical” methadone clinic and stresses methadone as a life saver? One that shows how methadone changes lives and lets people who have the medical condition of addiction lead quality productive lives. Also, as the President of a non-profit hepatitis C organization, I’d like to know the approximate costs involved in making a film similar to Methadonia? Thank you for your time. Sue Simon, President Hepatitis C Association www.hepcassoc.org
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 02:05 PM   IP              Bobby, I don't know how many methadone users are cross-addicted to methadone nationwide. I was contacted by people who work in treatment in New Jersey who say the use of benzos in conjunction with methadone is rapidly becoming a big problem in their state too. In terms of NYC, the only "data" I have is word of mouth. It may be a bigger problem here than the methadone community is aware of? Nonetheless, if people in treatment relapse, doesn't this really highlight how potent the grip of addiction can be for some people? Also, there are scenes in "Methadonia" which are positive towards methadone treatment. There is one very poignant scene when one group member says he want to get off methadone because "he's been HIV positive for 15 years". The group, including Millie, tell him unequivocally he's not ready to get off methadone because he's a chronic relapser. Millie herself describes her years on methadone. Millie is one huge success story (at least in my book) and a big part of her recovery was due to methadone. [Edited by michelneg]
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 02:10 PM   IP              Let me also add this as a general comment: I am a little surprised - even shocked - by how dismissive some of the recovery community has been towards "Methadonia". One doctor described the people in his angry press release about the film as "treatment resistant". Another doctor wrote that the film isn't really about recovery, it's about destitution. I find these remarks quite callous. Is it really possible that the only people who really "count" in recovery are the ones who do well? Obviously one of the hardest diseases to treat is addiction - especially in the inner city. Lives and families are destroyed. People become homeless, turn to prostitution and crime. It's tragic. I think it's important to let everyone in recovery know that even though it might be a long, bumpy road, the important thing is to keep trying. Relapsing is part of the territory. Outspoken methadone advocates remind me a little of some cigarette smokers who quit - they can become the most fierce, unempathetic anti-smokers. They seem to forget quickly how addictive smoking is, and how hard it is for some people to quit.
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 02:23 PM   IP              Dear Sue Simon, It seems to me that in the last decade(s), there has been a lot of attention to IDU and aids. Far less attention has been paid to Hep C. After what I've seen and heard in the last two years, I'm afraid that Hep C will become a far bigger and wider issue. Not all, but most of the people I met during the making of the film have been exposed to Hep C. Many have chronic liver disease and all the medical issues associated with it. (I'm not a doctor, so I can't really discuss this in much detail). To say we may have an epidemic on our hands may be overstating the case (maybe we do?) but clearly it's a big issue. In terms of making a film about the subject, and the cost, I think that's an issue I would prefer to discuss with you privately.
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 02:28 PM   IP              A ps for Sue Simon: how could I make a film about a "typical" methadone clinic? Most of the methadone community would like to see me hung, in public. Or maybe what your suggesting is that I do get publically executed, and some one else make a film about that. I'm certain the film would be aired on TV.
Bobby Power Poster Posts: 143 Registered: Aug 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 02:39 PM   IP              Michel--- I do understand that this may be a problem in some communities of methadone clinics. But Michel, it is a FEDERAL law that bans the use of illicit substances while on methdone maintenance. The clinics could be shut down because they allow that. And I do not think it is a huge issue at all! The point is Michel, is that this ONE film, about methadone, made it on to HBO----which you know has millions of viewers. I know that you wanted to do a film specific to one group of people in one clinic. However, that does a huge injustice to the methadone community at large. I agree with Susie, that the 'average' methadone user could not be any different from a group of people in "Anywhere, U.S.A.". I, myself, own a company that employs over 50 people, almost half of them are MMT people who are in recovery. We are a huge company that is doing very well, and I have found, in the 20 + years of buisness, that methadone maintenance patients are much better workers than "regular" people. They have pride in their life, in their recovery, and in every aspect of what they do. Of course we face the same day to day problems that everybody does. The point I am trying to make here Michel, is that this ONE film made it to HBO. I do not think Methadone nor addiction in general, will be forthcoming for awhile now at HBO. I am sorry Michel, I know you are proud of your film, but if you cannot accept that it did a great injustice to the methadone community at large, then you have your eyes wide shut! I DO agree with you, however, that drug addiction is a very scary topic for parents. Like I said in a post below, I too have children that I would do anything to make sure they did not travel down the road that I did. I agree with you also that "Methadonia" probably instilled some needed fear into teenagers that are thinking about trying that first "hit" of heroin. But even that was not represented well in your film, the link between young heroin use and methadone. I know you came onto this forum expecting to be bombarded by negative comments on your film. Even though I do not agree with the whole background of your film, and it's contents, I DO applaud you for bringing methadone to the forefront of discussion even if for awhile anyway. I still maintain that it did a great injustice to the methadone community at large. Methadone maintenance takes people from robbery, and other crimes, to obtain money to inject heroin, with dirty needles, to people who will not only stop doing robberies and thefts, but also stop injection of heroin, and turn them into people who live productive lives, have jobs and pay taxes, become good fathers/mothers, and live happy lives. To make a film about methadone, (probably the one and only show on methadone in a decade with such a large audience) and to focus 90% of that film to such a small subset of people in MMT that use benzos is just plain wrong. I believe you have set us back many-many years as far as the "stigma" attached to methadone. Now, the general public will think all of us on methadone are using benzos, and nodding off. WHO in their right mind would hire somebody on methadone after watching this film? I know, as an employer, (who-----by the way, watched it with a lot of my MMT employees), after watching this film, and not being educated about addiction or methadone in general (which---most of the population is not), would never even consider hiring a person that is on methadone. I think now, we have to think about how we can do "damage control". Do you think it would be possible to talk to HBO and have a short question and answer period with not only the 'average" methadone patient, but also experts in addiction, and then have the general public call in and take questions? Anything to make sure that people don't mistake methadone maintenance as an "active, destitute, and full-blown addiction", with no way out except to quit taking methadone. My wife (who is completely drug free), told me, after seeing this film, that she would definatley view methadone negatively, IF she didn't know the truth behind it. Michel, lets do some "damage control" while we still have HBO and an audience--what do you think about that?" God Speed~~ Bobby i Bobby
zenith *MODERATOR* Posts: 1228 Registered: Apr 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 03:12 PM   IP              Mr. Negroponte, I do have to agree with Bobby. Although I do understand that this is YOUR film, and obviously HBO liked it and bought it, methadone has been such a difficult issue for so many of we that are patients that we could not help but be dismayed when we saw the film, perhaps unintentionally, tear apart the small amount of progress towards acceptance we have been able to make in 30+ years. If I saw the film, knew nothing else about MMT, and were asked to hire an individual on MMT, I would worry about them setting my place of business on fire, nodding off at work, and stealing from me. I really feel that at the least it needs some sort of disclaimer, stating that this was a very small subset of patients and that many many MMT patients are productive citizens, possibly with a link to a website profiling some of these people? You say that, if anything, you are now pro-methadone. If that is true, then can you try to understand that, while you may feel we have overreacted, or that you are being attatcked (which is certainly not MY intent), we are defensive because there is such a HUGE amount of stigma out there. It is just amazing, the zeal with which average citizens with no knowledge about MMT will attack, picket, and rail against methadone clinics in their community, how many 12 step groups cast us out, how many doctors look at us with disdain, how employers withdraw job offers, judges revoke probation and parole.......all based on rumors--rumors that get started through films like this one. That is why I feel that, even though legally you owe no one anything, morally and ethically it would help a group of seriously oppressed people who are struggling to recover if you could just do something to balance out the damage a bit. Coming to thie forum is a start, and I applaud you for it. Zenith Zenith C.M.A. (certified methadone advocate) ARM-Texas
zenith *MODERATOR* Posts: 1228 Registered: Apr 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 03:16 PM   IP              Also, if the film was about the use of benzos on top of methadone, why call the film "methadonia"? Why not "Benzadonia"? Do you see how, just by the title, it makes people, especially those who may not have paid really close attention to everything you said in the voiceovers, feel that methadone was the primary culprit? Zenith Zenith C.M.A. (certified methadone advocate) ARM-Texas
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 03:31 PM   IP              Bobby, HBO is actually very committed to doing films about addiction. There is a big project being done right now which will air on HBO sometime in 2006. I don't know all the details (I'm not involved) but I suspect that it will be more "medical" in nature than my film. I know one section of the special will focus on Buphenorphine. But clearly "Methadonia" is by no means the one and only film HBO plans to present about addiction. In fact they've done many. Furthermore, most of the reaction to "Methadonia" has been very positive for the reasons I cited earlier. Clearly many people in the methadone community think the film portrays the treatment negatively. But again, if you listen to my voice over through out the film, I try to present a fair and straight forward description of some of the issues. But I never claim my film is a complete history of methadone maintenance. Nor do I pretend that it's a scientific or medical survey of the medication. It's a very specific character study of one group in NYC. What many methadone advocates are saying is that I should have made a different film. Imagine a writer doing a book on how divorce impacts children, and then someone saying it would have been better if the writer focused on the children of parents who did not get divorced. Clearly it's a completely different book. I made a film about people who are, for the most part, struggling with recovery. I know there are many people who do very well in recovery on methadone maintenance, but that's a completely different story than the one I told. So from my perspective, I'm a little baffled that so many people are commenting on the film I DID NOT MAKE, as opposed to the one I did make.
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 03:47 PM   IP              Zenith, maybe the title was a mistake. In fact, the people in the film did not like the title of the film. But let me explain my reason for using it. I'm of Greek descent. As a child, my mother always read Greek myths to me. She also read us stories about Alexander the Great, from Macedonia, and many others. The first time I heard Bill say "Methadonians", my first connection was to Greek mythology. Also, one of the characters in the film, George, is also of Greek descent. His last name - which is not revealed - means "from Macedonia". In any case, it's the surreal or mythological nature of the title that appealed to me. Some of the characters live in this borderland between addiction and straightland. It seemed like the right title for the film.
Susie Member Posts: 21 Registered: Jan 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 04:03 PM   IP              Michael,respectfully, in no way did I imply that you should be hung publically or otherwise. I also don't know how the methadone community would view it if you made another film. But I like to think there are people in the field that would welcome a positive film on methadone. I am also well aware of the epidemic proportions of recovering patients who are positive for HCV. That is why I got involved in the education of methadone clinicians and patients. It is a bigger problem than HIV...four times bigger. I would think clinics would welcome another film showing the other side. I get the feeling that my post upset you and I honestly didn't intend that.
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 04:27 PM   IP              Susie - Your post didn't upset me in the least. I was joking because I've taken a lot of heat from the methadone community for the film. At the moment, if I knocked on the door of a methadone clinic, I don't think I would get a very warm welcome. So in the immediate future, I don't have any plans to make another film that is on the subject of methadone. But there are countless filmmakers out there, and I hope someone else does make a film. There are many films to be made about recovery. For better or worse, I only made one of them.
Susie Member Posts: 21 Registered: Jan 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 05:04 PM   IP              Glad I didn't upset you Michael. Thanks for the response.
OXYLOVE Moderator Posts: 216 Registered: Apr 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 05:14 PM   IP              Hi Michel- God this is SO hard for me! I know your no longer here to write replies--but I am hoping you will return? This is hard for me because-well-I am so upset about the film...but at the same time I read what you write about it, and I can FEEL how much this meant to you and how much the people IN IT mean to you and YOU TO THEM. I guess this would be SO much easier for me if I knew that YOU HAD set out to make methadone treatment, and it's patients, look badly...because then I could just be angry and let loose! The truth is the film is about a group of people that DO exist--in fact they have always existed in MMT but we are just discoverying them NOW. They are the folks that, for MANY DIFFERENT REASONS, have been unable to get well during methadone treatment--but that isn't because of methadone that is despite it. What it really is IS the disease itself, in it's most insidious form--methadone and benzo's or dope in a needle isn't the problem--they never were. What is wrong with these people, and with all of us, doesn't go away by simply stopping drug use--there is just too much more to this disease than the drugs themselves. The truth IS these people DO deserve to have their story told, and NO we should NOT have to make films about only the people doing well on methadone. When people that are doing well in treatment start "bad mouthing" those folks that are still using while in methadone treatment--I just want to SCREAM at the hypocrisy of it...they want the world to TREAT THEM WELL and realize THEY have a disease--but when someone with that SAME disease isn't doing as well as they are--they are the first ones to put them down! It is the same thing when folks that are lucky enough to be able to taper OFF methadone and STAY WELL but start torturous rants about people that aren't so lucky and will need MMT for life! Can you imagine this scenario in a Cancer Care Clinic? (and believe you me, this disease is much more EVIL than cancer!)...can you imagine the people doing WELL in cancer treatment turning their backs in a snobbish put down of those who are TERMINAL?? I KNOW I am getting off track here-I DO- but this is all so UPSETING to me....because while I KNOW in my heart that you have every right to make a film about these folks and they have every right to have their story told....WE will still suffer because of it...and that just ISN"T the way it should be. For a year now in my community we have been trying to open a methadone clinic. I currently travel 160miles two times a week before work to get my medication---for a YEAR I drove down every single day at 4am and went to work at 8am. There are over a hundred folks in my area that do so. They need a clinic and so do all the kids whoes obiturary's we read each month because they have died of an OD. MY state, my beautiful wonderful state of Maine, has FIVE clinics and over 10,000 UN-Treated OPIATE ADDICTS....we are now in the middle of a court battle to get the clinic opened because when we tried the city counselors and our neighbors went to the streets with signs that had NO PURPOSE but to make people like me feel LITTLE. NO METHADONE HERE...WE DON"T NEED METHADONE JUNKIES IN OUR TOWN....IF YOU WANT METHADONE TREATMENT GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.....JUST SAY NO TO JUNKIES. I know NONE of this has anything to do with you, Mr.Negroponte. I really do. I just wish that before you made this movie you understood a little bit more what it was going to do US-the people that have been saying all along "we deserve this treatment....we are doing WELL....we need this treatment.....PLEASE LET US HAVE THIS TREATMENT SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO LIVE GOOD LIVES"...then along comes a movie--an HBO MOVIE!!---filled with everything that is SO bad about addiction---the problem IS it's viewers will ONLY see it as everything that is bad with METHADONE. Khilchey, Director ARM-ME Chapter www.armmaine.org This too shall pass.........
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 05:36 PM   IP              Dear Oxylove, Wow! What can I say? I'm in awe of your passion. And the way you describe your concerns and the plight of methadone patients in your state pains me. I would hate to think that my film would contribute in any way to people in your community being denied the treatment they need and deserve. If anything, I was hoping to generate a better understanding of the disease of addiction and greater empathy for addicts in recovery. Do you know if people in your community have seen the film? Is the response the kind you feared? If so, let me know who to contact. I'm willing to help in any way I can.
zenith *MODERATOR* Posts: 1228 Registered: Apr 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 06:20 PM   IP              Good for you, oxy, and good for you, Mr, Negroponte! I hope she can find a way for you to help--this has truly been such a struggle for so many of us, and I think many of us heard about and saw the film, and were just figuratively covering our heads, thinking "Oh no--here comes the rain of fallout, landing splat in the middle of the means of obtaining a medication that has saved so many of our lives." In so many areas, the opiate addicted community is massively underserved, and some states don't allow MMT at all! Oxylove did a great job of describing what they go through, and the shame they are made to feel, no matter how well they are doing. Thanks so much for your offer to help her--I know it will mean a lot to her and to us all. Zenith Zenith C.M.A. (certified methadone advocate) ARM-Texas
mrmichael67 *MODERATOR* Posts: 1632 Registered: Jun 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 06:54 PM   IP              I, as can Zenith, will vouch for oxylove's passion when it comes to this topic. What so many MMT patients are afraid of is the fact that once again, people will only see the bad side of MMT and not the 95% that back up what MMT is......the most efficacious treatment for opioid dependence we have available. If I were standing next to you, you wouldn't have the slightest idea I take methadone for chronic pain/addiction. And, the same can be said for most other MMT patients. There will always be those methadone doesn't help, for whatever reason. But, so many are helped by this medication and people need to know the truth surrounding MMT because all most people are told are the myths surrounding it. And, that doesn't help anyone. Everyone loses. You being here does show me the kind of person you are. You could have easily thumbed your nose at us, but you opened the lines of commucation. I can't thank you enough for that. Once in a while you get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right--Robert Hunter
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 07:44 PM   IP              Mrmichael67 - Thank you, and Carol, for inviting me, and listening. And really, if there is anything I can do to help Oxylove in her efforts, I will do it. It's 7:45pm (est) and I'm going to take a break. But I will check back in later tonight.
oldhippichic Member Posts: 1 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 08:48 PM   IP              Good evening and just a quick note. Please define "outspoken methadone advocate". Why are people who are passionate advocates defined as outspoken? You say, Michael, that you want to do something to help, all that we ask is that you do part 2 and explore the lives of those whose recovery on methadone maintenance has been amazing. Truly, An outspoken advocate. Becki NAMA London Harm Reduction Coalition oldhippichic@sprint.ca "everyone is sacred to someone..."CSN 2005"
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 14th, 2005 11:08 PM   IP              Dear Oldhippichic, I replied to a great many questions today and can't for the life of me recall why I used the phrase "outspoken methadone advocates". I think what I was referring to was some of the hate mail and vitriolic press releases I've read. I'm not sure if I would be the best choice for the filmmaker to do a part 2 at the moment. Maybe I'm wrong. But there is one thing I can do. Sometime next year I think Methadonia will be released on DVD. I would like to add in the "extras" portion of the DVD something that might address the issues that have been raised in the forum. It could be a combination of written material and one or more interviews with people who have done well on methadone maintenance. One of the great things about DVDs is that the "extras" really can provide "foot notes" to a film. I'm certainly willing to consult with Carol (from this forum) and others how best to address this issue. Just for the record, before Methadonia was shown at the New York Film Festival and aired on HBO, we approached several hospitals in NYC and asked that the film be screened for the medical community and for the methadone community. We were turned down - and that's putting it politely. It's really a pity because I think it would have been a great opportunity to generate a useful discussion about all the issues that have been raised in this forum. In retrospect, I think if AATOD and NAMA had found a way to work with us, some of the outcome might have been different.
Bobby Power Poster Posts: 143 Registered: Aug 2005  Posted October 15th, 2005 02:54 AM   IP              Michel-- You were turned down? That is an absolute shame! THERE is where good solid information you could have been given to possibly shed a different light on what MMT really stands for. That astounds me, to say the least! Threre again, this is another reason that I am finding out that you tried your best to do a "well representative" film on the subject of methadone. And the fact that AATOD and NAMA even turned down a very good opportunity to provide a good scenario for the general public to view methadone astonishes me, to say the least. In Alaska, we also have efforts for a third methadone clinic that is being proposed and is currently locked up in committes, and has a lot of very heavy outspoken advesaries that are against it-----NIMBY's we call them (Not in My Back Yard). In my last contact with SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association), In August of 2005 there were approximately 370 new clinics currently being proposed in the United States. Currently, SAMSHA estimates that there are over 1,000,000 people that are either opiate addicted or opiod dependant, without pharmacoligical benefit (prescriptions). When I spoke with them (SAMSHA), they estimate that less than 1 out of 4 were receiving treatment with methadone clinics. They also told me that many of the new "addicts" were not coming from heroin, but rather from extremely strong PRESCRIBED opiates used to treat pain, that was dis-continued by a physician that does not understand either dependancy or addiction. I think that your response to Oxyloves post was right on! THAT is what we are looking for! Obviously, you show great empathy for the plight of methadone patients and persons with addiction, and that is extremely commendable. What, in your opinion, could WE do, as a collective community, to promote the methadone maintenance treatment? To show the public at large, that methadone is currently the preferred drug that treats opiate addiction with the best efficacy? By the way, I want to again, thank you for returning for one week! What strides can we make if we collaborate for a collective cause! One cause-----to help the suffering that are out there without representation. God Speed~~~ Bobby i Bobby
chase Member Posts: 52 Registered: Aug 2005  Posted October 15th, 2005 06:28 AM   IP              michel, Great idea about the dvd, i think the reason for methadone community acting so negatively about your movie is fear. unfortunatly many of the people like judges and PO officers a state law makers will only see the patients who are nodding and not doing well and they will not think wow we need to help these people but we should get rid of these methadone programs they just do not work. The methadone community was finially getting people to understand methadone because of the data and training we have done but many of them still just see the people who do not do well the ones that needed to be shown in your movie many of them forgotten, We do advocate for these people all the time but the press and the police and lawmakers only see them many times and not the ones doing well. Its fear Michel that the people who do not want are clinics open will just use your movie to show people this is not a good thing. i know you are just telling a story and one that is true for many people but the people doing well are so afraid of losing treatment the treatment that got me to even get a computer to respond to you. The Treatment that kept me from going to prison. this is why this issue is so life and death to us, and even though we need to see these people and help them more help than they have been getting , i just know this movie will just be used against us, From your responses i can tell you are a man with no bad intentions and i am very surprised NAMA would not work with you before you released this movie. NAMA has done more for me than anyone in the country to get me the help and support that i needed. If you need anyone to show that this treatment works for the dvd i would be glad to help in anyway. I think by you coming to this forum shows that you are a guy who care's about getting the whole story told. I really hope you can add something on the dvd that will support people like myself to be able to continue to recieve treatment. thanks oh and herion is spelled heroin lol, i spell it wrong too sometimes. i have some great ideas for the dvd with some great statistics on methadone treatment, just ask Paul. Bowman CMA and a nice guy. Together We Will change this World
Barbara *ADMINISTRATOR* - Started MMT, Summer 1989 - ENDED 6/2/2005!!! Posts: 280 Registered: Jan 2005  Posted October 15th, 2005 08:53 AM   IP              Bobby, Chase and Michael It doesn't surprise whatsoever that NAMA rudely turned you (MN) down. NAMA, while at one time was born with good intentions, has literally become ONE large collective mindset. My personal experience with them has been "see it our way, otherwise be devalued and discarded. In the early 90's at a Drug Policy Alliance conference I approached the President with the idea of making a newsletter for patients called "Methadonia". Her reaction was so severely combative that she alienated me permanently. Time and time again my experience with NAMA has been nothing BUT negative, especially in the area of detox. They are NOT open to ideas other than their own. I also think that NAMA has AATOD in their right pocket due to fear tactics. They may have helped the patient within the clinic setting, but I don't see where an organization who seeks to rule in advocacy can be of much good to anyone. Here's my question: Did you Mr. Negroponte, approach NAMA with that name in mind: Methadonia? I'd like to hear more about their reaction. It's important for people to know why this leading organization would not become involved.
michelneg Member Posts: 82 Registered: Oct 2005  Posted October 15th, 2005 10:04 AM   IP              Hi Bobby, I'm a filmmaker, not a policy maker. So my advice in terms of promoting your cause may be very general. But when I read some of the posts in this forum, I gather that most of the important work being done is on a local level, ie within the communities where new methadone clinics are being proposed. Years ago, when a group called "Housing Works" (they work with homeless addicts that are HIV positive) proposed opening a facility in my neighborhood, people went ballistic. Again, the not-in-my-backyard mentality. But people worked hard circulating petitions to welcome Housing Works. The group made excellent presentations at community forums. Housing Works has now been here for years and it blends into the fabric of the neighborhood. But overcoming people's fears is by no means easy.
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