You're right. I wouldn't dare put myself within a hundred yards of an opiate of any kind, or a situation that I feel might lead me there eventually....even this far out on the other side of it. I still go to group meetings every month and I can tell you first hand that we even fear broken bones or surgery because of the narcotics that might come into play. If you can't trust yourself in a legitimate situation like that, you darn well know you can't trust yourself to go running around half cocked, putting yourself there on purpose.
IF GR got help, then I am willing to bet that he went either the Methadone or Suboxone route. They're two very different drugs and they're administered in very different ways. Methadone is given sometimes, a LOT of the time, daily...meaning you go to the clinic of your choice every single day and dose there. Suboxone is more every two weeks and perscribed like a regular prescription, providing you attend weekly counseling sessions and see the doctor every two weeks. The cost of these two things is pretty high. A friend of mine from group still takes Methadone and I believe she recently told me it was running her 14 dollars a day, every day. When I took Suboxone, it wasn't covered by health insurance and ran me, at its worse, around 600+ a month with doctor's visits and medicine. Sadly, as high as these things are...it pales in comparison to the money you spend when you're using...that runs easily into the 1000's if you're in a bad way.
I can't help but wonder...if Gary was still using...where was his money coming from? Did he have a day job, and if so, do we know what it was? If he'd been using that long (since at least the 2011 bust)....no doubt the dude was in a bad, bad way...and spending money like it was going out of style.