No matter your thoughts on addiction and treatment, it’s safe to say that programs which can help addicts recover more consistently are likely to be a net positive for the community.
According to The Lund Report, one such program, known as “contingency management,” is about to get an influx of funding thanks to Measure 110’s tax on marijuana, which has diverted millions to treatment and recovery services since its inception.
Contingency management, in layman’s terms, is the concept of providing addicts with a reward system to encourage them to stick with treatment. And with meth users, in particular, it’s seeming as though it’s a genuinely helpful process.
Not everyone is happy with this idea, though. Some are uncomfortable with the concept of rewarding those who struggle with addiction for “doing the right thing,” even if the cost of a small gift card could bring about tangible change in the life of their neighbor, friend, or community member.
So far, though, care providers are seeing the benefits of contingency management. This is made evident by the over $500,000 in requests having been approved in various grants and funding requests since the program kicked off, though the total amount of the investment won’t be clear until the OHA has released the contracts later this year.
This funding is unique in the U.S. and serves to turn Oregon into somewhat of a pilot program for similar ideas across the nation. If the state sees success, it’s entirely possible that researchers elsewhere may find success in their own communities.
So what exactly is contingency management? It’s the process of using gift cards or small monetary gifts to reward patients’ consistent engagement in rehabilitation efforts and drug-free urine samples. And, it’s the only approach recognized by the federal government as having “significant evidence of effectiveness,” as shown in its updated stimulant use treatment manual.
Dr. Todd Korthuis, the head of addiction medicine at OHSU, told The Lund Report that contingency management has seen a 40-50% rate of abstinence in meth users. And while those numbers may sound low, to Dr. Korthuis, they’re the magic words, or “off the charts… especially for methamphetamine use.”
Add in that there’s a pretty hefty net economic benefit, according to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, and things are looking up.
“The idea of Measure 110 encouraging all of these community-based organizations to adopt this, personally I think it’s a great idea,” Korthuis told The Lund Report. “But it’s a little different from what’s actually evidence-based, because that evidence base was developed in carefully-controlled specialty treatment settings.”
All in all, it’s going to be interesting to watch how this plays out. If all goes well, we may, with luck, find a reliable path forward for treating the addictions that affect our communities.
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