Restricting methadone hurts those who need help
I’m shaking my head at policymakers in Ohio, where after being so close to getting it right on effective methadone treatment access, they are now getting it so wrong, again.
September is National Recovery Month. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, at least 5,215 Ohioans died from a drug overdose in 2020, almost a 22% increase from 2019.
It could have been much worse, but thankfully state leaders made the right choice to ease restrictions — during the pandemic — to life-saving medically assisted therapies such as methadone, allowing people in recovery to take home certain amounts of the drug that helped them stay well, rather than going to treatment centers for every dose.
Unfortunately, and for no obvious reason, Ohio policymakers have made a terrible mistake by reinstituting barriers to these therapies that will only drive up overdose numbers again and cost lives.
During the pandemic, the U.S. saw the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in history. More than 93,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in the year ending in November 2020, up from less than 72,000 the year before. Medical professionals are trying to treat substance use disorder and medically assisted therapy, including methadone, is a viable treatment for many.
Unfortunately, methadone patients are regularly denied access to this life-saving medication due to inflexible hours of operation, geographical restrictions, transportation issues and access to methadone being used as a punishment or reward for breaking or following clinic rules. The stigma around and needless regulation of methadone treatment is costing lives. Continuous access to methadone helps to decrease the daily hustle of chaotic drug use and prevents overdose deaths.
For the Ohio leaders who worry that permanently easing restrictions to methadone will lead to its abuse, please look at the facts. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, only 0.93 deaths per 100,000 were caused by an overdose involving methadone in 2018, and methadone is much safer than what we find in our illicit drug supply, like the far-more dangerous and locally accessible supply of fentanyl.
It has been my experience that the illegal purchase of methadone has been used to ease opioid withdrawal and prevent those in recovery from resorting to more dangerous drugs — not to get high.
That is what happened to my friend Allie, who couldn’t get her methadone and turned to fentanyl to ease her withdrawal symptoms.
She lost her spot in the methadone program, starting a vicious cycle all over again as is far too often the case.
Stabilizing with methadone allows people to have more mental and emotional stability, and therefore decreases their desperation for more dangerous drugs.
Ohio leaders should also take note that federal policies are moving in the right direction with or without them. When I was in recovery from a life-threatening brain tumor not too long ago, I was so appreciative of having autonomy over my care, treatment and recovery. Opioid patients shouldn’t be treated any differently. Ohio should get back in the business of saving lives by allowing people in recovery to have access to takehome methadone treatments as they did during the pandemic and stop getting caught up in controlling patients or worrying about abuse of the therapies when the ultimatum is far deadlier.
Lifting restrictions on methadone will continue to improve the collective health of our community, stem the flow of dangerous drugs into the hands of recovering people and give the folks that we love a real chance at holistic change.
Billy Golden is a harm-reduction coordinator at Caracole in Cincinnati. He is a member of the Harm Reduction Ohio board of directors.