Substitution and Maintenance Therapy: Confronting Ignorance, Prejudice and Stigma
Year
2011 - Los Angeles, CA
Speakers
Moderator: Sharon Stancliff, Medical Director, Harm Reduction Coalition, New York City, NY
Tim Christie, Regional Director of Ethics Services, Horizon Health Network, New Brunswick, Canada
Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, Research Scientist, Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Vancouver, Canada
Olena Kucheruk, Coordinator, Harm Reduction Program, International Renaissance Foundation, Kiev, Ukraine
Amanda Reiman, Director of Research/Lecturer, UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, Berkeley, CA
Alex Wodak, Director, Alcohol and Drug Service at St. Vincent's Hospital & President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, Sydney, Australia
Despite persistent public resistance to substitution and maintenance therapies, innovative programs are advancing around the world. These programs are easing access to methadone, winning support for heroin-assisted treatment, and utilizing marijuana as an alternative to prescription pain medications. Although decades of evidence overwhelmingly show that substitution and maintenance therapies are cost-effective, humane and beneficial to public health, they still are not widely accepted as legitimate treatments for people struggling with addiction. What will it take to move the acceptance of substitution and maintenance therapies forward?