My short bio: My name is Stephen Goldner and I have had a long and interesting career in the pharmaceutical industry. My whole career has revolved around drugs. I have studied them, diagnosed them, identified them, written about them and won over 240 FDA approvals for drugs and related devices. I started out working as Supervisor Forensic Toxicologist at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, New York City. Amongst the 18,000 autopsies where I performed and supervised the toxicology evaluations, a large number of deaths were caused by inappropriate use of drugs, bad drugs or drug wars.

I co-founded 2 start ups and sold them three years later. One was focused on a process I developed - a safe way to prescribe and consume methadone which revolutionized the use of methadone and which got hundreds of thousands of people off heroin and out of a life of crime. The other was based around urinary testing for drugs - which I also discovered.

Since then I have worked for two Pharma companies helping them get FDA approvals for drugs, including serving as FDA Advisor to the NIH.

I am the founding Chairman of the USA CannabisLaboratory Standards Setting Committee and the USA Cannabis Clinical Trials Standards Setting Committee. Both of these are run under the auspices of the Foundation Of Cannabis Unified Standards (FOCUS) which is is the first and only national organization in the United States to develop accredited quality and safety based cannabis standards.

Throughout my career I have worked at all levels of the pharmaceutical business to better peoples lives. I have given TED talks and have spoken at the UN UNGASS meeting on drug policy. I am using my knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry to set up marijuana based businesses.

edit: I have also created a new Marijuana based drug that I am currently looking for investors for. The pill is a revolutionary treatment for pain that is fast acting and nonaddictive. Ask me about the development process and how I am trying to get funding.

edit: Thank you for the questions everyone. I'm leaving for now but will try to answer any questions you leave here later on.

edit: My website where you can contact me www.stephengoldner.com

My Proof: Urinalysis Paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/18431878_Dual-bed_thin-layer_chromatography_for_the_separation_and_detection_of_drugs_of_abuse_in_urine TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLnR1xJHTF4 Law School Article: https://www.qu.edu/qu-spotlights/stephen-goldner-jd-82/ Regulatory Affairs Associates Website: http://www.regaffairs.net/our-team/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephengoldner1/

Comments: 96 • Responses: 29  • Date: 

Leto__II5 karma

In general, do you think that the pharmaceutical industry is more interested in symptom-treating rather than cures since drugs that treat symptoms are an ongoing revenue source by patient, where as drugs that cure are not?

stevegoldner3 karma

That is such an interesting question. I know it looks to the general public like the pharma industry is trying to treat symptoms rather than cure people. But really, we are constantly looking for cures; sometimes we figure it out, most times we get close and don't cure - but alleviating symptoms can be a very great achievement also. Take cancer, for example- thousands of medical scientists have devoted their lives to finding a cure, and government and businesses have spent hundreds of $ billions trying to find something that works. Today many cancers can be cured, and many more can be slowed down, and millions of people have benefited, even though there is no 'final cure' yet. Cannabis is probably not going to cure any disease, we will find out when we run our tests. But it certainly is going to relieve pain for people, and that is a really good situation for people suffering in pain, when we have a drug product like cannabis ingredients that are so non-toxic.

FoodandWhining1 karma

I work on the fringes of a Methadone clinic so I've learned much as an outsider not knowing much about opiate addiction treatment. It strikes me as a no-win situation. Methadone is looked at as one addiction replacing another, and yet, these people (by the time they enter treatment) are out of options. It's mind-boggling how big this problem is and how complicated (and elusive) the solution is (apart from avoiding it in the first place.)

stevegoldner3 karma

While you didn't really ask a question, the issue implied in your heart-rending and beautifully written post does have, to me, a resolution and hopeful opportunity. Perhaps I will be able to describe it adequately here; i'll try.

No-one expects to become a heroin addict, it is not a goal or career choice but yet it happens to millions and millions of people. What if we had a tool that would help all or some of those people get redirected back to the happiness and health they want. Methadone is a tool for use by health professionals as part of a treatment regime, for people who are willing to put themselves into the process and stick to it.

But no one can force all other people to adhere to 'what's good for them', so people have the choice to drop out and go back to the life of illicit addiction.

For those who stick to the process of getting weaned off illicit opioids, once stabilized on methadone, the dose is dropped, week by week, or month by month, while the person is monitored to see if they go back to street drugs. While many say it would be great if methadone were not addictive, and I tend to agree - it is widely known that many people drop out of the process half way and resume illicit drug use or find other ways to kick all drugs, including methadone.

In closing, i'll reframe the issue as a societal problem and let's see what happens: if a city has 200,000 street addicts and we move 10% of them onto methadone. That means 20,000 street addicts are in treatment. Since most street addicts have to steal for the money to feed their addiction, we use eliminated 20,000 thefts a day. And how many thousands of injured people didn't get hurt, how many cops didn't need to respond, how many hospital visits didn't have to get made? times 365 days a year, times the last 40 years, times all the cites on the planet that have methadone. How much money just got saved, how much human turmoil and anguish just got spared. I think that is a pretty good deal. I hope this helps you.

Sackoflunch-5 karma

As someone who has cured cancer with cannabis, and been witness to many additional cases, I disagree.

stevegoldner3 karma

Truly, congratulations. Nothing can be more satisfying as saving another's life. But now we need to do that over and over with millions more. I hope you will join with us so we can accomplish this great task together.

SpeckledTile5 karma

How do you feel about law enforcement deeming it illegal to sell drugs like heroine and meth, yet allow doctors and pharmaceutical to companies hand out practically the same drug in pill form? Who decides that people need these drugs, pharmaceutical companies, or doctors?

stevegoldner4 karma

I think someone has to police the creators of drugs that can hurt people. Then properly made drugs are available to people who want and need them. FDA does a pretty good, but not perfect job of that.

Who decides that people needs these drugs? That's easy! First the person who goes and asks for it. Then the doc has to be the medical professional and do the right thing for that patient. The drug company should just be providing a tool to help the person and never do anything that harms the patient.

voltzroad2 karma

There was an episode of LawAndOrder where they use Ibogaine, a hallucinogenic drug, to treat heroin addiction. In the episode it seemed like a miracle cure. Any experience/opinion on the stuff or this use of it?

stevegoldner1 karma

Well, it's TV so they need magic to solve serious problems within the hour. But even my first formulation of methadone seemed like magic when it relieved pain and allowed a heroin addict to restart their life, so we can't discount things that look like magic - or we wouldn't be using cellphones to communicate.

Nobody really knows yet if ibogaine will work as well or better than methadone, so when the clinical trials are completed and we see the data, then we will know. But i have seen that cannabis can help people get off opioid addiction, to relieve serious pain - physical or emotional or whatever. I am asking people to consider investing in a real drug company to develop cannabis for real medical conditions. I think most people understand cannabis, dosed properly, is not hallucinogenic.

Agent_X102 karma

I believe the goal of ibogaine was to treat the underlying causes of addiction, mainly the psychological ones. It sort of goes along with the general trend that, happy, well adjusted people don't get hooked on dope. Outside of those with a defective D4 receptor, who try opiates for pain, and find their own personal Jesus, or some such.

But, that's just part of a long trend of pharma hacks. Methadone treats heroin addiction for a tiny fraction of the cost of weaning someone off of actual heroin. Only problem is, methadone may be worse for them to kick than heroin. Whoops! https://www.patmoorefoundation.com/introduction-methadone-addiction-and-abuse

So here comes the next hack, Suboxone, this time for sure! Well, maybe not...https://www.thefix.com/content/suboxone-addict-you-never-knew-existed

And while all this opiate addiction crap sounds kinda nasty, try having a nervous system that doesn't respond to opiates at all. Outside of feeling sluggish, pukey, and constipated. Still feel 80% of the pain though, yay! So, hello Gaba Pentin, and Pregabalin, feeling no pain, fingers are puffy, giving no shits if the devil himself crawls up from hell. Ok, can work with that... lol!

Kidney stones are back three years later, and try explaining to a new doctor that opiates/opiods don't do jack. But these are new and improved! Yeah, just give me the gaba pentin, 200s are fine, 300s if you really have to. Or just run me over with a bus and end this shit, I'm good either way... ;)

the_stoned_ape2 karma

Sorry to hear about your situation. I think OP is really missing the point, like most of Big-Pharma. We all want to be happy-healthy...and not addicted to pharmaceutical drugs that cause more negative side-effects then pain relief. I will say I have had opiate problems in the past, which all started with a prescription for back pain, and I eventually went to Suboxone, and then Methadone...neither were an answer to my problem, which was, that I wanted to be a productive human being that was not dependent on drugs. All that matters to these people is a new formulation that they can monetize that seemingly is better & "healthier" then traditional opiod treatments...It's a joke.

stevegoldner1 karma

Sorry that you have become disillusioned about all the people trying to figure out a better therapy for you. Anyone who thinks these scientists and medical people are doing it for the money simply doesn't know jack about personal motivation of those involved. It's really hard to develop new drugs and nearly all the ideas that are tried just end up not working. But the dedicated scientists don't give up, even when unjustly maligned. Stay tuned as we develop cannabis into a useful drug and see how people are helped. I wonder if there will still be some people who find ways to complain about the shortcomings of those cannabis plant drugs? What do you think?

stevegoldner1 karma

I'm new to Reddit, but i thought you were asking a question and I'm trying to answer it. I hope you find a better solution for your pain than being run over by a bus.

Ryugar-1 karma

I have heard some miracle stories about ibogaine.... one of my friends went to mexico to do the treatment. Apparently it works, as well as a spiritual journey that leaves you feeling more enlightened. You still have to change your behaviors if you want to stay off drugs tho. Unfortunetly, it is illegal in the US and while I hear there are some clinical trials and stuff it prob won't be legal anytime soon.

The suboxone read was interesting, its a little similar to my story as I take subs right now for maintenence. It is very true that both suboxone and methadone can help you get off other opiate drugs, but can be difficult to get off themselves. I see it as the lesser of two evils and just continue for now until I feel confident my life is in a good place. I don't get high off it tho, that feeling goes away VERY quickly.

Sorry to hear about your opiate resistance. Keep trying diff variations of drugs, I'm sure something will work.. along with things like physical therapy or heat pads.

stevegoldner4 karma

You have the right idea, methadone was never going to solve all the issues, just help someone get out of the streets and have a better chance. Sorry that it is also addictive, i did the best i could when i was 23 years old and just starting out to help formulate drugs to help people. Now I'm intent on using cannabis and that should be a much better outcome. We will all be able to see in the years to come, if we can get this drug company off the ground.

Ryugar1 karma

Well you did something, and that it better then most. Those drugs have def helped save lives and get people back into a stable way of living. I think your cannabis based pain reliever sounds very interesting too... I believe in the therapeutic effects of cannabis, it has already been shown to help with appetite and nausea, it can help you sleep, and I have noticed that it helps with headaches and pain as well.... so with more research they can prob find something that works even better with pain. Good luck, hope your drug takes off.

stevegoldner1 karma

Thanks very much for those kind words. We will do our best to help people with extracts of cannabis and our special formulations, work to reduce or eliminate any undesirable effects. And hope this helps tens of millions of people.

Agent_X101 karma

Probably worth it to get out of the states, and do ibogaine in Brazil. I don't think it's super expensive, at least not compared to rehab, or getting stuffed in prison.

Opiates just don't work for me, not a big deal because there's gaba pentin, pregabalin, and various others. The annoying thing is, due to kidney stones being periodic, by the time I need a new scrip, the old doctor is long gone, and the new one needs me to explain, in small words, how much opiates DO NOT WORK!

If I was a chronic pain person, there would be a paper trail of what I was on, for how long, etc, etc. Kidney stones, some doctors figure, oh well, once this batch is gone, home free right? Nah, don't work that way. Not unless you want to do nothing but piss and hydrate all your waking hours.

stevegoldner2 karma

Well, good luck to you. I didn't find a question in what you wrote so I can't give you anything other than my best wishes for getting helpful medical people.

Chauncy_Prime1 karma

Did you manufacture Methadone?

stevegoldner4 karma

Yes, the active ingredient, methadone hydrochloride was synthetically made by another drug company. We took that pure methadone and made a special formulation that people could safely use, bottled and shipped it to methadone treatment centers. Just like we will buy cannabis from farmers, create a consistent extract with certain active ingredients, make it into a safe and effective formulation to help people and pets suffering from pain or other problems.

anvindrian3 karma

cannabis is safe to use by default stop spreading pseudoscience

stevegoldner2 karma

I think it's nonsense that cannabis is safe by default. If someone has that data, put it on the table so we can all look at it. Nobody thinks igniting a drug and inhaling it into their lungs is a great idea. That's what Big tobacco said for decades until medical science proved it was a lie. There are hundreds of compounds in the marijuana plant and nobody knows for sure what all of them do. Now is the time to do the science and then use what's great for people and find ways to eliminate the bad compounds.

anvindrian3 karma

talking about smoking as a method of delivery is a straw man. vaping and edibles negate the downsides. there arent compounds that are significantly bad for you

stevegoldner3 karma

Rubbish! My cannabis lab finds that 45% of all edibles are either over-dosed or under-dosed during manufacture - people are getting way to much THC/CBD or getting way to little and being cheated. Plus 20% of the time edibles are microbiologically contaminated from poor production and packaging processes. Plus 20% of the time pesticides were used on the cannabis that went into production of the vap oils and edibles, and the processing concentrated 50 fold the pesticides which are going into a person's body. But don't worry - consistent use of these poorly made products is leading to people getting very ill and the lawsuits will put such a hurt on the bad actors that the industry will clean itself up over the next few years.

I am concerned when innocent people are hurt by incompetent manufacturers so please make certain the products you buy are tested by the best labs.

tnucu-1 karma

Just like we will buy cannabis from farmers, create a consistent extract with certain active ingredients, make it into a safe and effective formulation

It's not safe without you ? That's quite the ego you have there. What a surprise, someone else from the pharmaceutical industry is a lying sack of shit. You are a parasite.

stevegoldner1 karma

You have mistaken what I wrote when i simple described what we do. I apologize if you have been hurt. I honestly described what my process is. I'm certain your process and activities are honorable and that you now feel terrible for insulting me.

ziemen-1 karma

so how do i make methadone at home? asking for a friend and for science of course

stevegoldner2 karma

Sorry, trade secrets. Don't want anybody 'breaking bad'. You might try growing or buying cannabis, where it is legal and you can get it honestly tested so you know if it has pesticides or other obvious poisons in it.

Aventine1 karma

As a drug and alcohol counselor at a methadone clinic (currently sitting at my desk!) what do you think would improve the services of medication assisted treatment?

stevegoldner2 karma

Ha! That is such a great open-ended question! Okay, First, thank you for your efforts and i know you have to go back to work very soon. Everyone else involved has to get their 'head into the game 100%' and make their part of the solution better than it was yesterday. This life is always about taking personal responsibility and create the change we want in our work, our life, our society. Better screening, more compassionate attention to the patients' needs, better drug delivery, better policing of diversion incidents. I spoke at the United Nations 6 weeks ago and medical officlals from many countries asked to have methadone and other therapy drugs supplied to them even when their own governments had outlawed drug therapies. Some of those countries laws favor punishing drug/alcohol abusers with imprisonment or death. So worldwide policies also need to change.

Aventine1 karma

If you're able to answer one more, why do you think suboxone (we actually only do buprenorphine and methadone here) is the preferred treatment for opiate addicts seeking medication assisted treatment? Is it that it is less easily abused? I find that 90% of the former subox patients that attend my clinic and switch to methadone were diverting/just buying them off the street/selling their takeouts. With methadone being more controlled, it seems much less diverted/abused than suboxone. Also, I see that methadone maintenance has been much more effective for IV heroin/opiate users as well. I live in a state with heavy restrictions, that seem to be much more appropriate than even the state my company is located in.

MeAndBobbyMcGee-2 karma

Suboxone is less easily abused. Suboxone is a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine acts as a partial agonist at opioid receptors which gives the patient their "high" while on treatment, which theoretically should reduce their desire for heroin. Methadone works in this way as well (although with some minor differences). To me, the interesting part of suboxone is the addition of naloxone which is a powerful opioid antagonist. When suboxone is taken orally (as directed) the buprenorphine produces its effects without interference from the naloxone; however, if a patient on suboxone injects it for a more rapid onset or injects heroin, the naloxone will block the effect of the opioids and cause withdrawal. Ideally this would reduce heroin use while receiving treatment.

It is also arguably safer than methadone because the partial agonist effect of the buprenorphine is less robust as the agonist effect of methadone. It is very possible to overdose on methadone or to use methadone and administer heroin and accidentally overdose that way, which is blocked with suboxone use by the naloxone.

Aventine1 karma

Dude, I work at a methadone/bupe clinic. I understand what suboxone, buprenorphine and naloxone are. I was asking for his opinion.

stevegoldner1 karma

you asked a great question...'why suboxone is preferred treatment for opiate addicts'. I'm sorry that i can give you a solid answer. Some data indicates that it isn't really the patients with the preference, but rather the treating staff and their words or actions influence the outcome. But again, I'm sorry that i really can't tell you from my own knowledge base. But thank you for the great work you are doing to help people.

NoddingSmurf1 karma

I'm curious and you seem extensively knowledgeable on the subject: What are your opinions on opiate addicts (in remission) using marijuana for legitimate medical purposes? I'm a recovering opiate addict who also has multiple chronic pain conditions, and I find that I am often made to feel like a pariah or that I'm somehow cheating for using marijuana to deal with the pain (it doesn't interfere with any of my responsibilities or trigger any sort of relapse reflex for me. It's been about six and a half months since I started using it for the pain)

stevegoldner2 karma

I apologize for all the people who have treated you badly because they didn't understand you are doing the best you can to deal with the pain. You should be respected for finding the least troubling, least toxic, easiest to manage drug therapies, cannabis. But please remember they are just reflecting society values from all these decades and all of us are products of our cultures. And these people sound like they are worried about you! It is wonderful that they care and want you better. So congratulations on having people around you who care so much that they just want the best for you.

jasim181 karma

How do you feel manufacturing Methadone when you know the opioid related deaths are increasing rapidly. According to the CDC methadone related deaths increased 9% from 3.5% per 100,000 in 2013. Do you think you should have a duty of care when you manufacture such a harmful substance ?

stevegoldner5 karma

What a great question! Since I no longer manufacture methadone [i sold that company many years ago], i can answer you completely candidly. I think every person involved in providing solutions to problems has to do their very best to make it the best solution possible. That is why my formulation was made in a way that it could not be abused and therefore my formulation is not part of these increased deaths. Certainly a solution provider has a duty of care. And so does the solution user. I think every drug, like every car and truck on the road, is a potentially very harmful item. The user of the drug, like the user of the car, has to be careful and follow all the rules of the road and with drugs, take it only under a doc's care, and still there will be unfortunate incidents and people will get hurt. Should we castigate the truck manufacturers because they make them so big? I don't think so. Do we know if the increased methadone deaths were during therapy or during inappropriate abuse just to get high? And was the increase deaths due to increase in use of methadone, to help people get off opioid addiction?

_anonxmous1 karma

Where's the universal cancer cure being hidden?

stevegoldner2 karma

It was always a hopeful bed time story told by politicians. The medical researchers are pretty clear that cancer is many diseases, needing many different drugs and medical devices. But have you noticed that many cancers now-a-days can be completely cured? I hope that helps you.

I_SLAM_SMEGMA1 karma

What can a doctor fresh out of med school do in order to pursue a career like that?

Person is already studying for the usmle and working hard to get into the medicine post graduate program where they will try super speciality in psychiatry and then pharmacology.

Is there a better way?

Psychopharmacology, will this field still be relevant? Or should the person instead just focus on psychiatry?

stevegoldner3 karma

What to do at first? Do whatever you can, best you can, and keep volunteering to do something more. For myself, i was just the forensic toxicologist on 18,000 autopies when i needed to develop the lab methods to detect LSD, Cannabis, heroin, etc - because i was working in the ME Office, NYC. So it was a 'home work assignment'. I had no idea, when i opened my own lab a few years later, that it would become 'urine screening for pre-employment and athletes' and a billion dollar world wide industry. And when someone asked me to make a formulation for this obscure drug to get junkies off the streets, it was a home-work assignment . i had no idea it would become the preeminent evidence based therapy for heroin treatment. But now I know what I'm doing, it only took 40 years, maybe you will learn wisdom faster than I did. Great good luck. Go do something wonderful to help people.

notreallyc3po1 karma

Hi and thank you for doing this. I come from a family where addiction is genetic which my mom and sister in recovery from in various forms of pills\drugs. We're a lower middle class family on a good month. I don't know the stats on drugs use among classes, but would guess different drugs for different classes, but perhaps drug use is more prevalent in lower\middle class.

How do you reach those classes who don't know who Ted is and no idea what he is talking about?

stevegoldner2 karma

You are very welcome, I'm really glad it helped your family. I did it to help people when I was 23 years old and never in my wildest dreams ever thought it would become a world-wide treatment to reach so many people. The same drug is used for everyone, regardless of economic class, race or anything else. I'm not sure what you mean by "Ted" so write back and I'll try to answer you.

Obslost1 karma

Do you see Marijuana being Federally legal in the near future or are we holding on to a pipe dream?

stevegoldner4 karma

Marijuana as a smokable product is not going to be federally legal in the near future. But the scientifically useful parts of cannabis, like THC/CBD and other compounds absolutely will be federally legal in the near future. Meanwhile the recreational use of marijuana will go on as a state by state activity until someone from a non-marijuana legal state sues the federal government for infringing their 'equal rights' and that will make another landmark Supreme Court case. But that's not the near future.

nae321 karma

I'm curious about what your opinion is on the controversies surrounding methadone clinics.

Do you consider methadone to be a success?

Do you think Suboxone will completely replace methadone as a means of getting off heroin?

It's often claimed that Methadone is difficult to abuse. Do you agree with that? I've met many active addicts who claim otherwise and there are certainly many people on both heroin and methadone, so what does methadone actually do that prevents/inhibits heroin use?

Beyond methadone, what do you think is the best means of kicking a heroin addiction

My Background: I work as an RN at a hospital in Seattle

stevegoldner3 karma

Most importantly, thank you for your service in hospital. Here is what i discovered 6 weeks ago while serving as USA cannabis lab representative to the United Nations meeting on world wide drug policy... i learned that underdeveloped nations medical staff were begging to be allowed to have methadone to treat their heroin and other addicted patient populations. and the countries that did have methadone considered it the only evidence based medication to help wean patients from illegal narcotics. So with those 2 observations 40 years after i started making the formulation - i would call the drug a success.
I have no idea if suboxone will replace this 40 year old drug methadone, but hope to be here with you in 40 years to learn. My experience was that ...Depends upon the dosing format and the diligence of dispensing staff as to whether or not methadone is easily abused. It is very hard work for the dispensing staff, but have to be street smart and medical diligent to handle this very savvy patient population. I may be wrong on this, but any patient who is found to have methadone + heroin in system simply isn't being dosed with enough methadone to satisfy their need and therefore meds may need adjustment. The goal of methadone dosing was to satisfy the need for self administration of heroin and remove the patient from the heroin lifestyle. I hope these answers are helpful, but they are just one guy's thoughts.

brutalxdildo1 karma

How do you feel about the pharmaceutical industry heading towards new medicines specialized to patients, such as recombinant viral therapy for those with genetic disorders?

stevegoldner1 karma

I think it is terrific that some companies have recognized that 1 size does not fit everyone. Frankly, trying to make a medicine that is specialized for individuals is a 'real pain in the axx'. It absolutely is not as profitable, and it takes much longer to figure out if it really works. So props to the people trying to do this. On top of that, to try and undo a genetic problem is like asking God for a do-over. So this is hard stuff. I'm just trying to take a simple plant, cannabis, and find the medicines in there and get it to people who need it.

Slick_Grimes0 karma

1) Methadone saved my life so despite all the negatives people have to say there's people that are still living thanks to it.

2) I read a study published decades ago that said that heroin overdose is incredibly hard to achieve and that 99% of the time that when someone "OD's" it's actually caused by something in addition to the heroin (ie drinking alcohol with it or what the heroin is cut with - quinine being cited at that time as #1 I guess).

They went on to say that clinical testing showed that regular users could handle EXTREMELY higher doses with no ill effect and that even opiate naive subjects were able to handle what would be considered very large amounts (in context I suppose). They further said that all a coroner ruled "overdose" meant was that drugs were in play near/at the time of death and further testing wasn't done because of that fact.

I was just wondering your thoughts on the subject? As I said this study was pretty old (can't recall decade) so perhaps it's been disproved, but as a toxicologist I can't imagine who would be more qualified to answer.

stevegoldner2 karma

I am so tremendously happy to learn methadone saved your life. Very few things work perfectly, or work for everybody, so it is natural that people who are not helped will have negative feelings. But it worked for you, and that is great.

As a toxicologist, i know that people really can OD on heroin, that this drug really can kill. And certainly the life that it leads people into is so deleterious to a person's health that other diseases follow along, and they for sure can kill. Yes, a coroner's opinion that heroin overdose was the cause of death is often based on just funding some amount of drug in the system, and nothing else that might have caused the death. Frankly, the coroner is doing their best to figure out, in limited time and with limited resources the best possible explanation.

Mikeymike340 karma

Are you hiring? :) best question I could think of! Haha

stevegoldner2 karma

That is a great starting question! We are vetting team members right now, so not hiring, sort of pre-hiring.

Love-Sex-Dreams-2 karma

As a methodone manufacturer turned Marijuana advocate, don't you think that you're going backwards by telling how cannabis can help people get off Opiod addiction when there is solid evidence that cannabis has served as the gateway drug to various 'hard' drugs? I'm all for cannabis, but I find it a bit odd that you suggest how it can help people get off opiods.

stevegoldner3 karma

You raise an interesting and important point. Yes, there are some people who went from cigarettes, to booze to pot, and on to other drugs. Which one is the gateway? And then there are the people arrested for 1/2 ounce of pot that end up in jail or prison, injured or dead. And terrible devastation to their lives and their families. One thing that is becoming clear, in my opinion, is that the War On Drugs has been an outstanding failure but every measurement. So the policy needs to change. And cannabis is a mild pain relief drug when used properly. I'm the guy from the pharma industry so I'm advocating free refer on every street corner. I would advocate for cannabis pain relief meds for those who are in pain and addicted to opioids because cannabis is so much easier to be weaned from than opioids. But others have a different opinion and i respect their ideas.

buttfacemgee-3 karma

how do you feel that methadone is one of the most debilitating drugs ever produced. why take someone off a drug that the withdrawal will last 2 weeks tops and then put them on a drug that they WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DISCONTINUE USING! do you find that to be wrong? what we should be doing is helping people off heroine the natural way, by discontinuing use moderately. Not pump them full of drugs that cause withdrawal symptoms for years after the patient has discontinued use, making it much more of a challenge to actually have a real life again. Isn't methadone providing patients false hope? isn't it causing more dependence? the one thing an addict wants to end? I myself am pro marijuana. and am medically proscribed in mn. stop selling methadone USA!... its terrible... glad you sold the company.

RainyOcean1 karma

If people are having withdrawal symptoms for years then it's not being discontinued right.

stevegoldner1 karma

This sounds unusual and the medical treatment person needs to pay attention. Something unusual is happening and the person needs help.