How long does it take to become addicted on Vocodin?  And then how
does this related to how long it takes to get it out of system?  (i.e.
if it takes a month to become addicted, does it take a month to have
the opiates leave your system)

Dear funyscribe-ga,

Thank you for your question.  I will preface my answer by saying that
I am not a doctor, but I have done extensive research on the addictive
characteristics of Vicodin.  As with all medications, the effects of
the drug on the human body vary from individual to individual.  The
following link contains information about the addictive nature of the
drug, as well as information about the onset of addiction:

Drug Rehabs
http://www.drug-rehabs.com/vicodin_addiction.htm

This quote from the site indicates that Vicodin tolerance can occur
very quickly in some cases:

"Subject to individual tolerance, many medical experts believe
dependence or addiction can occur within one to four weeks at higher
doses of Vicodin."

The length of time before a person can become addicted also varies
with the method of ingestion.  If the drug is crushed up and snorted,
addiction will occur much more quickly than if it is taken in pill
form.  As for the length of time it takes to detoxify, there are
several different detox methods.  The following quote is from the
website of a standard detox center:

"Detoxification is designed to support clients during withdrawal from
alcohol and other drugs and usually lasts from 3-7 days."

Source:  Subutex Detox Information
http://www.supportsystemshomes.com/html/detox-detoxification.html

There is another option called Rapid Detox, which is performed under
anesthesia and takes four to five hours.  There are many Rapid Detox
sites on the Internet that contain information about the procedure. 
An example is the Midwest Rapid Opiate Detoxification Centers
(http://www.mrods.com).

So the concise answer to your question about whether the length of
detox varies with the length of time the drug was taken is that it
does vary, but only within a small range (several days to a week in
the case of standard detox and several hours for Rapid Detox).

I hope this answers your question, and thank you for using Google Answers.

Cheers,
rosicrucianpope-ga

Search Strategy:
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Clarification of Answer by rosicrucianpope-ga on 28 Jun 2004 03:07 PDT

In the case that your question was not about detoxification
specifically, but about how long the drug remains detectable in the
body, this link will be of interest to you:

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/opiates/opiates_testing.shtml

It does not mention Vicodin specifically, but the "half-life" of
Vicodin will be similar to the other opiates.