Is It Possible To Get High On Suboxone?

Over 2.5 million Americans, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), suffer from opioid-related substance misuse disorders, including both prescription medicines and heroin. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two sublingual buprenorphine products for the treatment of opioid dependence in 2002: Subutex, which is buprenorphine, and Suboxone, which is a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist with a lengthy half-life, which means it lingers in the bloodstream for 24-72 hours. While it is an opioid that blocks pain receptors and induces a little euphoria, it is hypothesized that if high dosages are consumed, the effect will plateau, meaning that beyond a certain quantity, it will have no effect. Because naloxone is an opioid antagonist, the addition of naloxone to buprenorphine in Suboxone is intended to act as an abuse deterrent. When taken as prescribed, naloxone is inactive; however, if the medicine is changed and then injected or snorted, the antagonist blocks opioid receptors, resulting in opioid withdrawal syndrome.

Suboxone can be abused by people who are addicted to a short-acting opioid like heroin, who use it in between doses to prevent withdrawal symptoms. According to the Washington Post, "Subs," as Suboxone is widely referred to on the street, is more commonly abused for this purpose than for getting high. Because it still operates on the same opioid receptors in the brain and causes a flood of dopamine, the medicine can still cause euphoria. This high may be milder than that of other full agonist opioids, but it lasts longer. Suboxone is also known on the street as:

Stop signs are used to signal the end of a

• Bupe

• Sobos

• Oranges
  

In order to reduce abuse, it should only be used in conjunction with addiction treatment programs such as counseling and continuing support, according to the Courier-Journal

Suboxone as a Primary Abuse Substance

Suboxone may be emerging as a favored drug of abuse for those seeking an opioid-like high, with many opting for it above other opioids. Suboxone abuse is likely to be widespread among jailed people. It's smuggled into prisons and jails on stamps and coloring pages, with the film strips imbedded in the sheets, or the tablets are crushed, ground into a paste, and smeared on the pages or backs of stamps. According to the New York Times, Suboxone accounts for up to 12% of all recovered contraband in Massachusetts state prisons.

According to the DEA, buprenorphine emergency department (ED) visits for nonmedical use of the drug grew fivefold from 2005 to 2011, reaching over 20,000 ED visits involving buprenorphine products for nonmedical uses. Suboxone produces a more mellow "high" than stronger opioid medicines, which may appeal to people who are not tolerant or dependant on other opioids. It may also be easier or less expensive to obtain illegally than other prescription opioids.