The Suboxone fix.

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Heroin deaths up - Treating heroin addiction with Suboxone - Brief article

Death rates from heroin overdoses have nearly quadrupled since 2000, according to a March report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency found that overdose deaths in the population had reached 2.7 per 100.000 in 2013.

Yet the federal government tightly controls access to one of the most powerful tools for fighting heroin addiction.The drug Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) has quickly become more popular than the better-known option, methadone, which works by mimicking a weaker version of the euphoria of heroin. Suboxone contains a partial opiate agonist, which attaches to the opiate receptors in the brain, minimizing cravings without causing a high. It also includes an opiate blocker, which temporarily stops drugs like heroin and morphine from taking effect. Patients prefer Suboxone because it...