Ability to commit a person against their will for drug rehab

[Alana Marsh]

My sister has a very serious prescription drug dependency.  She also has other mental health problems.  She has overdosed 4 times and each occurrence could have resulted in her death if she hadn't been found in time.  

Our family has pressured her to get help, but she claims that she doesn't have a problem with drugs.  She argued this point in the hospital after each overdose.  Under family pressure, she has gone to 3 different hospitals (one was a rehab center, the other two were mental health facilities), but only stayed for a very short time, refusing extended treatment.

We're becoming desperate.  She badly needs help, and our question is:  How can we force her to get help?  Is it possible to get her committed to a rehab center for an extended period of time?  We realize that the individual has certain rights, but we fully expect her to overdose and kill herself unless she is forced to get proper help.  

Can you give us any guidance?  Thanks you very much.

[brian]

Most states allow for a commitment to a mental health facility (where drug treatment can be rendered) if the person is a danger to themselves or others.  It is possible though difficult to get someone committed for drug treatment.  You may want to consult an addiction specialist and attempt an intervention that would include the threat of commitment if she does not voluntarily agree to treatment and staying inpatient for the full term of treatment.  However, as most addicts will tell you, it doesn't matter how much you and your family want her to get help, unless SHE wants it NOTHING will help.  Sadly, many people need to hit total rock bottom before giving in and accepting true help.  I hope your sister is not one of them.  Also, she sounds like a methadone candidate, if it is narcotics she is abusing.

[Sandi]

She can be "Baker acted", not sure if it will help, once she gets back out if she wants to go right back to it she will, it has to be something SHE wants.

[Brighty]

I fully agree with the comments above. It's not easy. Since your sister has "other mental health problems"( which may make her a danger to herself or others) you may have a little more luck getting the 'Baker Act" than if it were only drug addiction. Some states don't consider drug addiction a mental problem when it comes to the legality of committing someone, even if they are chronic overdosers. Yes. .she has to want it, but as stated above by Brian, intervention is a useful tool... you can put up the invisible fence and have the family let her know she is "out" unless she agrees to treatment. I feel that even a begrudging treatment on the part of the patient is still a step in the right direction .. she will for the first time be in a recovery environment...with grace she may eventually see the light.

[kara sanchez]

I am a recovering drug addict.  I have been clean for 3 years and 19 days now!!  I am 23 years old now.  I was 12 years old when I started using speed intravenously(with a needle).  I have came along ways, I have an awesome marriage, I am raising my 10 year old nephew, I have a beautiful 8 month old baby boy, 4 cars, a new home, that is good considering where I came from.  My family, grandmothers, my grandfather, great grandmother, and my aunt are not drug users, they begged me to quit, I didn't, my mother, my father, my sister's, my uncle, and my best friend, they were all drug users at that time, they all begged me to quit, they all decided to send me all the way from California to Oklahoma, I still didn't quit.  I quit when I was ready to quit.  I know your pain, my mother is still using, and my father he is in prison for 8 years over drugs, so believe me I know your pain, but the truth of the matter is, it does not matter what you do or say to your sister, she is not going to be forced to quit, it just does not happen like that, the disease of addiction is a VERY, VERY, VERY, POWERFUL  DISEASE!!!   I wish you the best of luck.  Oh yeah have faith in your god, and believe in him, and pray everytime you get a chance for your sister, that will work better than anything in this world will!!!   Oh yeah sounds like your sister is in DENIAL, which is very common for drug addicts.

[Brighty to Kara]

Thanks for your wonderful posting. I think it gives alot of hope to addicts and their loved ones that one day they can and will turn the corner ! It is also very revealing to those of us who are waiting in the wings how helpless we are to control someone else's addiction. And thanks also for the truth about the healing power of prayer and spirituality for everyone involved. Blessings to you. Brighty

[Philisha]

I know that therreis always hope that the addict will see the light and recover but my mother has been taking pain killers for 4 years now and is using more every day, among other things, it has torn our family apart, is there much of a chance that she will ever get help if she hasen't yet?

[Brighty to Philisha]

I don't imagine it's ever too late, it's just that for those of us suffering on the sidelines it's never soon enough. Just to give you some hope... my daughter is in residential treatment now... she is only 21. I went to visit her and met one of her roomates who is a 73 year old woman in treatment for alcohol. Her husband of 42 years had died 3 months before. She had never sought help before and now finding herself alone she decided to begin anew. I was filled with inspiration just seeing her there with all the other patients so much younger than she was. It's true.."where there's life there's hope." I will pray for you and your mother. Brighty

[ANONYMOUS>> SAME SITUATION!!!]

I suggest you go to your court house  and get papers for temporary guardianship of your sister, it seems she is incapable of making the right decisions. You will most likely be hated for a few weeks by her but she will understand.. You also need to realize that an addict will NOT accept help until they ACCET they havea  problem.. My sister was the SAME way, it took talking to the judge and getting guardianship of her to BLUE paper her into a detox facility. We were told by local agencies that there is a lawa gainst forceful admittance to detox in most states. Usually an addict has to fall flat on their face with no getting back up before they accept help from ANYONE ESPECIALLY FAMILY!!!!  It sounds like she REALLY needs help.. I suggest talking to an attorney ( consulatations are free) then proceed with talking to the family about who is best suited to take guardianship of your sister until she gets help.... But please bare in mind this is FAR from easy, it is painful, hard, and full of anger and resentment.. It has been three months since my sister has used drugs... The only way she got help was our mother got the courts to grant her temporary guardianship of her to FORCE her to get help... This is someting I would only suggest in SEVERE cases.....If she has overdosed 4x than this is severe and she needs help fast.... In other cases I wouldnt reccomend this method.. Good luck.. I hope there are not children involved in this situation....

[comment to Brian from D about methadone]

I am not bashing your advice at all so please do not feel offended.. Just giving my input on your comment..I have spent several months researchimg methadone treatment and I totally disagree with the treatment in most cases... Methadone is a treatment that should only be used with HIGH TOLERANCE heroine users. Methadone is not a treatment for a vicodin or percocet user. It was strictly designed for those heroine addicts who had a tolerance to allow them to shoot or snort heroine up to 20 times per day. Methadone in itself is VERY addictive and it limits a persons addiction recovery.. A methadone treatment user is a person who's whole life resulted in heroine use, ways to get it, how to get the mobey, where to shoot it next so forth. Once the methadone is used to get the person off Heroine that person is now dependent on the Methadone to live a normal life...I personally feel that you CANNOT get an addict clean if you are administering a treatment that is addictive in itself.. I am totally against the use of Methadone. Our state just declined the opening of a Methadone clinic for the reasons I stated above... Addiction recovery cannot happen if the addict is given an addictive drug.. You yourslef posted a comment a while back about benz/valium. I wont quote you but you disagreed with the choice to get that person off xanax using valium because from the same family.. How can you suggest Meth treatment?You seem well educated in addiction.. Please look at my poin on Meth treatment.. Heroine users go from a life of finding/using heroine and having NO life, to having no life using Methadone.. They cant leave state, cant take vacation, cant sleep in on Saturday.. Why?? Because they gotta have that Methadone certain time of the day 7 DAYS A WEEK!!!! Sorry if you are offended just disagree with your posting..

[Brighty to D.]

Hi D.. quite frankly I do agree with you in both theory and reality ... my daughter was offered methadone treatment and she declined in favor of total detox and treatment. Her father and I are pleased because we share many of your views which are indeed valid. But I also have to tell you that it's a mixed bag and I do believe methadone treatment serves a purpose for a certain addicts who have been through the systems.. both legal and recovery, and are not able to make a go of it. A person who has to work to support themselves, pay the rent, and stay out of jail may find doing without the opiate an impossible task. If the use of methadone gives them enough stability to get their life in order and learn new lifestyles then I am all for it. The reality is that many heroin addicts have been living in a "comatose" state for so long that they fall on their faces when expected to clean up and get back into life.This just reinforces their low self esteem and defeat. The judicial use of methadone provides an opportunity for a person to function with a maintenance dose... to go to counseling, to get back to a structured life and gain the self esteem that goes with it all. They don't have to break the law or violate probation and can begin to integrate into society and feel good about it. Yes.. they do have to plan to eventually go through a tapering process, to learn recovery skills, and to finally be drug free. If a one year program on a tapering dose of methadone can get a person mentally prepared to be totally drug free then it serves a purpose. I do realize your points.. and not all methadone clinics or users live up to the ideals I am mentioning. Some clinics counsel against tapering.. some even may like the daily fee that the client has to pay and may keep them on methadone longer than necessary. The methadone user is still in a drug culture environment and rubbing elbows with non recovered persons at the clinic every day and often they are using heroin and methadone at the same time. It's just not a perfect world. I personally think that methadone is overated and has a sketchy success rate for the reasons you mentioned. To me, the best case scenario for methadone treatment would be better standards in the clinical use.. standarads that mandate recovery and relapse prevention skills being taught to the meth user, urine testing, and a definite tapering schedule, integration into the work world, and other counseling. To give out methadone indefinitely without recovery expectations is certainly perpetrating the problem. It should simply be a step to healing , not a substitute. Best wishes, Brighty

[debra]

I,ve been reading all the postings and seen where my niece Philisha had posted about her mother, which is my sister,(younger) i have tried many many times over the past year& half to help her,in driffrent ways she always gets mad and resents me for it. we lost our mother to cancer,it will be 2 years May 28 and her problem has gotton worse since then,she has 2 children,17 and 11 she with me (my niece) and my nephew is with his dad. i thought for sure losing her kids would make her want help, but it did,nt. i even tried getting a court order, i was told even if they gave me one she could leave the rehab when ever she got ready. this law needs to changed. i,m terrified that i (we) will lose her too. i pray all the time for her so do other family and friends.we lost our dad when we young,so it was me my sister,brother and mother until we lost her, it has been really hard for all of us. my sister has alot of quilt because she was,nt there as much as she could have been if it was,nt  for her addiction, this much she has told me. PLEASE PUT MY SISTER IN YOUR PRAYERS her name is Tammy.  what is the Bakers Law .

[debra]

I,ve been reading all the postings and seen where my niece Philisha had posted about her mother, which is my sister,(younger) i have tried many many times over the past year& half to help her,in driffrent ways she always gets mad and resents me for it. we lost our mother to cancer,it will be 2 years May 28 and her problem has gotton worse since then,she has 2 children,17 and 11 she with me (my niece) and my nephew is with his dad. i thought for sure losing her kids would make her want help, but it did,nt. i even tried getting a court order, i was told even if they gave me one she could leave the rehab when ever she got ready. this law needs to changed. i,m terrified that i (we) will lose her too. i pray all the time for her so do other family and friends.we lost our dad when we young,so it was me my sister,brother and mother until we lost her, it has been really hard for all of us. my sister has alot of quilt because she was,nt there as much as she could have been if it was,nt  for her addiction, this much she has told me. PLEASE PUT MY SISTER IN YOUR PRAYERS her name is Tammy.  what is the Bakers Law .

[Brighty to Debra]

You can be assured the I will pray for Tammy and also for your family. I am not sure if the Baker Act is the same in all states so I do hope someone with some legal knowledge can reply. Here in Florida it's a mandated 72 hour period of observation of a patient in a psychiatric ward to determine if they are a danger to themselves or others. If a person is "Baker Acted" it means that something happened and they were ordered into this 72 hour observation. If a person is standing on the edge of a bridge and the police are called about a suicide attempt and they rescue the person then he/she is "Baker Acted" for observation. Generally you cannot Baker Act someone just because they are on drugs even if they have a history of overdose.  The law does not officially consider drug addiction a mental illness even though we all know it is. But if a person is on drugs and behaving violently, if they overdose even accidentally, if they are acting weird and psychotic then a call to the police and or crisis unit will usually result in a "Baker Act." You don't always have to call the police. If you take someone to the ER for suicide attempt, drug related or not, the ER will usually set the Baker Act. When the person is medically stable the person has to then begin the 72 hours of observation. They are transported to a psych facility if there is not one in the hospital. In the next 72 hours the patient is seen by a team of psychiatrists and if for some reason they are not safe to release they can be RE-baker Acted. An example would be if they are still talking suicide or still in a mentally unstable state or expressing to hurt someone or themselves. Generally though, in 72 hours most people, even if they are seriously addicted, are released. Most people want to get out so they display the appropriate behavior. Remember, a Baker Act is NOT drug treatment. The law is designed as a time out period and still has to protect the rights of the patient. Usually a drug addict will be released unless they voluntarily sign themselves to a longer stay or agree to move to a treatment facility. In the case of your sister... you really have to petition the courts and get as much medical and psychiatric evidence as you can and present it to the judge.If she is diagnosed with another mental illness such as severe Bi-Polar you may have some success in detaining her. But to just force someone into a rehab so they don't overdose again is nearly impossible. I guess you could say that the law recognizes the ultimate right to die by overdose.  Essentially, it is much easier to Baker Act someone in the middle of a crisis where emergency staff are called to help. To commit someone by petitioning the court outside of a crisis situation is harder. Call the clerk of your local county court and they will direct you. Generally you need to prove that the person needs to be committed to some sort of treatment. This is not easy to do. The only other hope may be that your sister gets in trouble with the law. Most courts now are opting to mandate drug offenders into treatment as the alternative to jail. Then the probation afterwards will include drug testing. More and more families are writing to the judge or prosecutor in these cases and asking that their family member be sentenced to long term treatment. I see it here in Florida all the time. I have actually heard families and addicts say that getting arrested and charged was the best thing that ever happened to them. They knew that they would have to face mandated treatment. No, you can't force someone to get off drugs. It has to be something they want. But many people are really happy inside for the mandate because they really want to be free and finally decide to go for it.

[Debra Thrasher]

Thanks for your answer and prayers,I don,t know if the Bakers Act applies here in Alabama,I,m trying to find that out. Three weeks ago my niece come to my house because Tammy was in such bad shape(they have a mobile home in our yard) she had left her a note saying that she was here and her brothers dad had come and got him,so as a result she showed up at my door, she could hardly walk or talk, we had words,she screaming and cursing at me and Philisha,my kids were there also,she was so out of control I,ve never seen her that bad, I told Philisha to call the police,(we live in a very small town where everybody knows each other)I was in hopes of getting her some help by doing this,the city,county and a DEA agent showed up, they gave her a choice jail or hospital she finally agreed to the hospital,the cheif of police said they would take her to another local county hospital because they had a 400 unit and they would keep her at least 24hr but they did,t she was turned loose in couple of hrs, probaly because she did,t have Ins., I talked to the judge the next day and she said pretty much the same as what i,ve read here.So i,m supposed to sit by and wait till she OD or what ever this really hard for me to do. Well thanks again for your help.

[Brighty to Debra]

I am still praying for you. As you can see, it's very difficult to get help... .even with insurance if the doctor releases the person then you are in the same situation. Even in states with a Baker Act the confinement time is only 72 hours.... just enough for the person to come down, agree they will look into getting further help and they are released. Now you see what everyone here means when they say the person with the addiction has to want to be well and they have to do it themselves. I have asked around about your situation. Tammy has addiction and it may be that she also has a mental disorder which is very common with addiction. You can call your state mental hospital and explain your situation and they may advise you of any procedures to have her evaluated. Try the social worker at the hospital. You can also go to the county court and ( do it in person for the best results) find the office where you can sit and explain this situation. You may be able to have her committed for a short period of time ( similar to Baker Act) so she can be evalutated at least. The other thing you may want to do is more difficult but it is feasible. You can go before a judge and ask for "custody" and they may grant you a custody hearing. You will have to have the family plead that your sister is so mentally ill from her addiction and possible other mental disorders that she is incompetent to make her own decisions. You may have to cite any suicide or overdoses and other irrational actions. If you and the family (or certain family members) are granted custody then you can make the life saving decisions that she is unable or unwilling to make. While she may not decide to get clean ( nobody can do that for her) you may be successful in getting her confined somehow until her head clears or she is given treatment. As awful as the state mental hospital may sound, she's better off there on medicine and locked in and observed than being dead. I personally believe that drug use is the main cause of mental illness in our society and unfortunately it is viewed as a "choice" and therefore it's hard to get the person controlled. If your sister were acting this way naturally then you would have been able to have her committed a long time ago. Keep trying. I know how hard it is to keep a loved one alive. I have been there also. It seems that the main thing here is to get her forced into some clean time so she can rationalize better or to legally have her choices removed so you can make them for her. I hope you and Philisha and other family members stay right on top of this. Her life is valuable and will God's help you can do it. Love, Brighty

[Sharon Woodall]

After reading some of the postings, I have been compelled to write regarding the use of Methodone. I have seen in other places on this forum that for hydrocodone addiction alone that you can not get into a Methdone treatment clinic. Yes, it was orignally began because of heroin abuse, but I guess as the drug use went up with other drugs, Methodone is an accepted alternative with other drugs other than heroin. You can get into a clinic with "just" a hydrocodne or oxycodone abuse problem. I am talking about the abuse of the above 2 drugs with the abuse going on for several years to the point where it has gotten out of hand. A freind of mine who has never touched heroin recently got into a meth clinic with the abuse of the hydrocodone and oxycodone problem. My point is --it can be done--and after he was accepted he found out that there were many many people there for that reason alone. So if anyone tells you can't get into a clinic with "just" a hydroconde or oxycodone problem--that is simply not true!! My friend over the past month has regained is life--no more cravings for the use of the other drugs, and he has been able to begin to put his life back together!! Yes, it is a pain in the behind to drive 7 days a weeks to get his "dose", but it has worked for him. Also, if you are in pain--pain clinics will prescribe methodone as a treatment for pain and does not have the stigma that I hear so much about at the clinics. You can receive a prescription in pill form and the cost is very low (35.00 per month depending on the milligram) Just wanted to to leave the information here as I have seen in other parts of this forum that a clinic will not accept you with "just" a hydrocodone or oxycodone problem. Thanks!

[anita]

I have been dealing with my brother's addiction since he was 12.
For 8 painfull years I have been trying to keep him alive. He's young, talented, bright young men, but unfortunatelly there is nothing my family and i were able to change in this tragedy.
I have learned to cope, with the fact that one day he might not be around. I stlii shiver though when i think of that dreaded phone call that I might get in the middle of a night with police asking me to ID his body. It is lot harder to help my Mother and my Grandparents to let him go, since they always give him money and shelter, and by doing so, they cause more harm then good.
He is using our love, and help to support his habbit.
As far as the legal system goes... We could not keep him forcebly in a rehab when he was a minor, since we did not have medical insurance, as an adult it is even more pointless trying to gain temp. guardianship. The truth is sad, but after spending tremendous time and money to get the case in court, the judje is very unlikelly to grant anyone control of an adult. My brother had a dx. of bipolar disorder, and the judje still denied me a guardianship. To all of suffering familles out there, I would like to say:
Keep on pushing the legal system, and perhaps there will be a loop found.
Do not get your hopes up though, becouse they will be shatterd.
As far as my brother goes, he was at some of the most impressive programs, got some of the best help, and he took 250$ out of my grandmother's purse today.
I remember the day when my Mom brought him home from the hospital the day he was born. I rememberwhat a proud BIG sister i was, and how much we loved each other. My brother was loast to drugs 8 years ago, and the addict that lives in his body right now, only cares about feeding his hunger. He does not love me, care about me, but most importantly about HIMSELF.
I hope that my little Peter will come back to me some day. I will not give up waiting for him, and loving him more then I love myself. i will not ever accept any of his collect phone calls anymore, or give him 5$ for "McDonalds".
It is exteramly hard for me to think of a possibility that perhaps he is indeed really in need of food. But this is what i have to do.
Tough Love is lot more difficult to practice, then to allow an addict to take advantage of their family's.
I pray every night. Mostly for my Mother and Grandmother though.
Peter is happy just getting high.
I will pray for all of the one's trying to save their loved ones. They are the one's trully suffering.
PS It is almost a copout to say that addiction is a disease.
Cancer is becouse it is not self inflicted. It's a cripeling dissability caused by bad CHOISES.

[ojaysmom]

Please say prayers for my son. He is on med for herion, but now seriously abusing cocaine. I keep trying to talk to him but nothing is working.  I feel only God can intervine. I need help

[IBKleen]

Hi ojaysmom,

Welcome to the community. It would be nice to hear a bit more about your son and see how the members here can help.

First, this post is 10 years old and what happens is that it will return rather quickly to archives if someone does not see it and I don't want to see that happen. So, go to the top of this page and hit the green "Post A Question" button. It is easy to follow the instructions. Give us some more information and I am sure you will get lots of support.

Hope to see you out there. If you need help, just ask.

[Rich99]

Yes it is an old post but there are others out there today who are surfing and reading and looking for advice in a same situation.

[Wolfee81]

my daughter has been busted for prescrip drug sales,needles have been found in my moms car and house.~she's been in and out of jail, she has neglected her daughters(thank god 4 their greatgrandmother and father) she has stolen vast sums of money including stealin my moms credit card,borrowing money from family and friends, constantly lieing to people about supposed illnesses she has that she needs money for meds ,she has disappeared for months at a time.
this is a gal who grew up with the proverbial silver spoon, always being given what she wants ,never wanting for anything but yet as an adult she has turned out to be so selfish and self centered.I dont know if this is a cry 4 attention or is she truly screwed up and needs to be put away before she hurts herself or someone else,

[pattifan]

Your daughter is an addict and addiction is a disease.

She isn't selfish or self-centred, addicts lie, cheat and steal due to the effects of the drugs and the nature of the illness. It's also very unlikely that her background or upbringing had anything to do with this.

She does need help, but 'putting her away' is draconian and will solve nothing.

You won't be able to help her unless you can force yourself to be non-judgemental (you have to forget about blaming her, selfishness, silver spoon etc), and you need to put away your anger.

You cannot help her until she accepts that she has a problem. Attempts to pressure her, force her or threaten her will have exactly the opposite effect to the one you want.

You can help by supporting her, accepting her (warts and all), and explaining that you are always there for her and willing to listen. If you are truly willing to listen, she may then start talking to you about her problem.

You could also leave your computer on Medhelp, preferably on a posting about a success story. Ask if she wants to look at the site. she may say no at first but she'll almost certainly become curious.

Imagine yourself in your daughters shoes... she will have zero self esteem (covered up by the effects of the drugs), she will feel worthless, full of fear for the future, she probably feels unloved and now thinks she is a criminal.

Trust me, she needs tender handling right now.

Take care

[gurplegirl]

Hi, I live in Tennessee and my best friend from Florida called me this past Saturday to tell me she wanted to get out of FL and come up here and get back on her feet.  She's been homeless off and on for the past year, she's been on oxy's for almost four years and just continues to go further and further downhill.  When she reached out to me for help to get clean I thought she had hit a bottom and was ready to accept help. So, I dropped everything I was doing and drove down there to bring her back.  I really had no clue how to deal with this kind of thing, even though I am a recovered alcoholic/drug addict myself, I've never dealt with anything like this drug before.  I had set everything up for her to get into an outpatient treatment center to help her with this demon.  But, once she started to go through withdrawals she started talking differently about going back and getting help on her own.  I had a nagging fear that she just wanted to get back where she could get access to drugs and feel 'better' again.  She got on a bus and went back the next day.  Soon after that I began to question things she had told me and realized that she had indeed tricked me so she could go back.  I haven't heard from her and I have no idea when I will.  I feel completely helpless.  I wondered if there was a way to have her committed to an inpatient rehab center, but after reading all of your comments it seems that that's not an option.  Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.  

[slgrubbs]

My 23 year old son is addicted to Methadone and Oxy's or any pain meds he can get his hands on. He wanted help. On the days he didn't have it, he became suicidal. Talking about killing himself everyday! I contacted a Methadone Clinic a month ago to get him help. He was put on Suboxin to ween him off the pain meds. He was doing great for a couple of weeks. ..then a week ago he decided to go to a local bar with his buddies, was up dancing with a girl when some guy hit him over the head with a beer mug, knocking him out. Then a second guy hit him AFTER that and broke his jaw and nose. He was put on pain medication for this when they put six staples in his head and wired his jaw shut. The perscription was not strong enough for him which resulted in him finding his own on the streets and he is now back to abusing them! This is very hard on me and my family. He is hard to deal with.
I know now that looking back that I was one of those enabling parents that just wanted to help him get thru this. I didn't want him to die. He overdosed on methadone a couple of years ago and I found him just in time. They said another hour or so...he wouldn't have made it. I have asked God to help him get thru this. He tells me he wants to get back on the Suboxin (which is so expensive) but it is still cheaper than the money he spends on these other drugs! I had my son commited to a mental health institute because he was threatening suicide. He was on so many pain meds that night and was driving. I called the police on him to find him and take him to get him help. They were running his license plate and looking for him. When my daughter and I found out where he was..we set him up to be pulled over with another guy when he left with him. This was a very hard thing to do but it's called "tough love"! They kept him for 4 days to get him detoxed then let him out.
The cops told me that I could write a letter to the judge and have the judge order him to rehab. I know he is having pain from his broken jaw. I know he needs  something but I told him today that he needs to get back on the Suboxin or we are going to have to do something differernt. Of course he didn't want to hear that but I am at my wits end. I hate going to his room everyday to make sure he is still breathing!
I do not recommend that anyone be put on Methadone unless they have an addiction to Heroine. Too many kids are dying from this drug and these idiots that are getting them...sell them for $5 or more each! They don't care that kids are dying...as long as they make their money! It is a very hard drug to get off of too! Dr's are giving them to people with back pain! That's crazy! I really think that we should be able to ....as family...do more to get a family member help!