Quote:
Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14
If the system they design was to supply people free drugs with the intention of weening them off safely, as well as counseling, affordable home services and job placements, I would be 100% for this.
This would also require the ability to test for concentration of drugs in a person's system to assure they aren't buying black market and using the public purse to supplement their addiction, which is sadly what many addicts would do.
There is a way to make this work, carte blanche free drugs for all isn't the answer, neither is imprisoning addicts with non violent crimes.
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Firstly, abstinence isn't the goal. Most patients will fail if that's the goal.
What you're describing is already in place and has been for decades in all provinces with methadone, Suboxone, and Kadian. The patient sees a doctor, gets a prescription that they need to go the pharmacy every day for. After a while of clean tests and regular appointments they can get some to take home so they don't need to go to the pharmacy every day.
The difference here is that only those three are used for Opiate Use Disorder. A doctor may not prescribe hydromorphone or oxycodone to a patient who plans to use it for anything but pain control. These patients get referred to a clinic that prescribes Opiate Agonist Therapy (OAT) which is usually a methadone clinic. This doesn't work for those who don't find these option effective, and those who don't want to go to a methadone clinic due to the attached stigma. The reason we need clean drug tests to give doses to take home is to decrease risk of overdose.
You can't make the getting therapy contingent on clean drug tests. What drugs are off limits? Alcohol? Marijuana? Do we not pay for inhalers if people keep smoking? Do we tell people they can't use the hospital if they catch COVID and aren't vaccinated? I can tell most people that what they think of people with Opioid Use Disorder is wrong. They aren't looking for fun most of the time. They're looking for escape and to stop feeling sick. You give them that and most aren't going to go looking for a good time very often. Bottom line: we can pay for this in increased hospital/infectious disease/paramedic/crime costs, or we can pay for it by decreasing all that