Methadone and Probation

[prettypoppy]

Has anyone had any experience with being on methadone treatment while on probation? I know the reaction differs from officer to officer. My sister has been on Methadone treatment for a couple of years and is doing great--no problems, hasn't used at all, etc. But she is afraid to tell her P.O. about it. She has 2 years left to go on a 10 year bit and has not had any problems with them, but she did have a relapse to opiate abuse that they were unaware of and subsequently got on methadone. They do not test for it in her county, she says, but she is always worrying they might somehow find out about it and revoke her. Should she come clean about it or not?

[poppy]

Hard for anyone to advise in such circumstances, especially when many of them (like me) come from not only different states but also different countries. All with different ideas of what constitutes a crime and what is a suitable punishment if it is established that a crime has been committed.

I'd like to say honesty is the best policy, but experience has taught me that this is not always the best idea, not by a long shot. Your friend has a lot to lose. From what u say the bulk of the years she was sentenced to are behind her. She should bite the bullet and keep her mouth shut. Wait till the shit hits the fan before trying to fix it. Hopefully it won't break. It sounds like u're jumping the gun a bit.

[THEPAINTER1960]

Has anyone had any experience with being on methadone treatment while on probation? I know the reaction differs from officer to officer. My sister has been on Methadone treatment for a couple of years and is doing great--no problems, hasn't used at all, etc. But she is afraid to tell her P.O. about it. She has 2 years left to go on a 10 year bit and has not had any problems with them, but she did have a relapse to opiate abuse that they were unaware of and subsequently got on methadone. They do not test for it in her county, she says, but she is always worrying they might somehow find out about it and revoke her. Should she come clean about it or not? When i was down in florida back in 1992 i was on felony probation and i was on m.m.t. and the probation officer told me she did not approve of it but there was not any thing she could do but advise me to try to come down on your dose and get off becuase she does not believe in it.:)

[prettypoppy]

Thanks, guys--I told her she should probably just keep her yap shut about it--but she said "If they do find out somehow, then how will I explain not saying anything all this time?"

prettypoppy

[panthrax]

Well I too am prescribed Methadone, along with a number of other opiates.

Coincidentally, I too am on probation.

Probation Officers require that any new medications you are prescribed, that you bring the bottle as soon as possible so they can make a photo copy of it and have it on file.

If she is taking Methadone legitly, she shouldn't have much to worry about.

If she is self-medicating herself with street Methadone, then she'll be in some trouble.

Methadone is only tested for in Extended tests, as it isn't even a default substance. The person administering the test much specifically want to look for it.

Unless you fail the drug screen, the county/state will have to pay for the costs. Extended tests are more expensive than your standard NIDA-5 test, so unless they have reason, they most likely wont want to use the more expensive test and will more than likely go with the less expensive, standard NIDA-5 urine screen.

Hopefully she won't have any problem, but Methadone is one of those substances you can get away with saying, "I ate a poppy seed bagle this morning".

Goodluck to her, and hope I helped!

[chemboy7]

Hopefully she won't have any problem, but Methadone is one of those substances you can get away with saying, "I ate a poppy seed bagle this morning".

Yeah, I think I would say a few days ago though... give it time to cause a false possitive. You have to think too that this is a very generic statement (your not the only one that tries to use it) and they may just go ahead and run a GC/MS on your sample, which seperates and identifies all substances in the sample to find out exactly what caused the possitive result.