People who have developed an addiction to opiates, heroin or pain killers are now most likely being prescribed Suboxone to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms during their recovery.  Suboxone is an FDA approved medication also known as Buprenorphine or Subutex that along with behavior modification counseling can help wean the addict of pain killers.

Suboxone is still an opiate although it is considered a partial opiate and much less potent than the pain medications that the addict is trying to recover from so it is recommended for out patient treatment thus allowing the patient to avoid a lengthy hospital stay to detox from the particular substance that they were abusing.

For a single use of a small dose of Suboxone the detection time in the urine drug test can be from two to six days. A small dose of Suboxone can be detected in the saliva drug test for up to twelve hours.  With a longer use of the drug or for a person with a higher body mass the detection time can be longer.

As with any opiate, overdosing on Suboxone can have drastic ramifications sometimes resulting in disability or even death.  Injection Suboxone or taking Suboxone with alcohol is the most common reason that overdosing can lead to death.  Suboxone is not a cure for opiate addiction but merely a means by which the addict can get some relief from the withdrawal and cravings that accompany addiction.  Methadone is a similar substitute for opiate addiction relief. Suboxone blocks the receptors in the central nervous system that are normally activated by pain killers and other opiates.