Dear Bill,
I hope you are fine, I am well. It was a delight to receive a letter from you as always. The co-guide examination was held. Candidates were supposed to answer 60 worldview and 60 technical questions. The 12 papers of questions multiplied by participants' numbers are equal to 8500 questions that need to be checked. Computers will do most of the job but two individuals will review the results to avoid mistakes. Another point is “the point of serving”. Those who have served in any role before this exam (Marzban, guardian of meetings, secretary of meetings, etc) will receive an extra point. In other words, those who have served in different voluntary positions will have a higher chance in this exam. When I debate with physicians and psychiatrists regarding addiction treatment physiology I am in shock! They don’t know anything about it! They claim to be experts but no! This is how I define addiction treatment completion or success: “A heroin abuser can attend a full-time job in a heroin production lab after treatment completion without any problems”. If they read our mutual book they will learn though. You mentioned the long-going debate on doses of methadone in the U.S.
Dear friend, they are trying to use methadone just to prevent patients from using other illicit drugs! this is not a treatment! I believe such debates will never help us in addiction treatment, why? Because it is like debating over whether XL clothes are better or S sizes?! Wisdom says this is funny!
Of course, it depends on the body that is going to wear that T-shirt! And this is what we do at congress 60. After we interview the newcomer we determine the dose of OT based on their drug and the amount they are using per day. We have 16 different types of doses (or 16 different sizes) to offer: starting from 0.3 ccs per day and it goes as high as 16.5 ccs per day. Someone may start his travel with 0.3 ccs or someone else may start with 4.5 ccs or etc. Meanwhile, I do believe the amount of methadone they are using across the world and in the U.S. is very high. You can refer them to our mutual book (addiction engineering, saturation, compatibility, and nutrition). 80 milligrams of methadone is 16 pills of 5 milligrams of methadone and that is a very high dosage. Your keynote is very important. What you emphasize on combining medically assisted treatment with recovery is very important. If one is missing it will be like a 100 Dollar bill with Benjamin franklin on one side and the other side blank! If Methadone is provided in 3 doses daily the rate of success will increase dramatically. I am trying to save the ship of Congress 60 in this condition just like I did in the corona situation.
Extend my greetings to the family.
Friends and brothers on heaven and earth forever
Hossein