I know it starts with me. That's why I went to get help, when no other way of quitting was working for me.
Methadone doesn't get you high. It just makes it so that you feel normal and can function throughout the day without opiates. That way, an addict can keep their job and begin to rebuild their lives while getting better. You're only on the methadone about 6 months before they wean you off, and the withdrawl is way less intense than the withdrawl from opiates. So no, it's not replacing one thing for another, rather it's making it so the addict is eased off of the drugs and can still function while doing so.
Also, group therapy at the clinic has nothing to do with religion. They teach us how to prevent future relapse and change our behaviors that weren't working in the past. They help us get the tools we need to function without drugs, so once we are weaned off the methadone, we aren't tempted to go back on drugs. Not all addicts go to 12-step meetings.
Also, different forms of treatment are right for different people. there is no right way. I am doing what works for me, and I will continue to do so, because nothing else has worked for me yet. I am not making excuses, for I know that my addiction is my fault, but that doesn't mean that I can't get help for the mistake that I made, right? I'm happy to not have to get up every day and have to scheme to come up with money, and do terrible things to the ones I love just to get a fix. I'm happy to be able to start to live a normal life. If you don't agree with it, that's fine. I don't feel the need to worry about that because I'm comfortable with what I'm doing. People get diseases that are their own fault all the time (think STDs and such). It doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to take medication and get treatment for them.