Newsom vetoes bill to pay people to stay sober

SACRAMENTO » Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected a bill that would have made California the first state to pay people to stay sober.

But just because Newsom vetoed the bill by state Sen. Scott Wiener on Friday does not mean the drug treatment program won’t happen in California.

Newsom supports the treatment, known as “contingency management.” But he wants to test it out first before signing a law to make it permanent.

The state budget, approved in July, includes money for a pilot program that begins in January and ends in March 2024. Newsom has asked the federal government for permission to pay for this pilot program. President Joe Biden’s administration will respond by the end of the year.

People in the program are tested multiple times per week over a set period of time. Each time they test negative, they get a reward — sometimes as small as $2. People who make it all the way through the program with no positive tests usually earn a few hundred dollars and receive the money on a gift card.

The federal government has been using this treatment since at least 2011 for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Since then, research has shown it is the most effective treatment for drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, for which there are few pharmaceutical treatments available.