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Response Paper (word count: 1358)

ENG l01

02/01/2017

Addiction - Is Recovery Medicine the Path to Recovery?

Addiction and its treatment is a topic I know personally, very well. I spent about thirteen

years of my life deep into a methamphetamine addiction, along with liquor and almost any other

drug I could get my hands on. After going through the worst times of my life, being homeless,

almost dying on a regular basis, and doing illegal things just to get high; on the 6th of June 2015,

I decided to get help, and have been clean ever since. The topic of addiction has many different

and polarizing viewpoints on how to get addicts on the road to real recovery. Finding a definitive

method that works for everyone, though, has shown to be an impossible feat. There are almost as

many ways that have scientific backing or lowest relapse rate as there are different ways to

get high. Since there are so many various methods that all claim to work, in this article we will

focus on the medication-assisted treatment (M.A.T) method. It is stated that medication along

with behavioral treatment is the best way to approach the situation and that one specific

medication can drop the cravings for opioid use by 50 percent. Real recovery from drug use

comes from abstinence and changing the addicts life in positive ways. Not just switching the

path they have already been stuck on abusing drugs; to a different but almost identical road by

getting them hooked on medication.

On October 5th, 2016 in the news publication, The Hill, Newt Gingrich published the

article Medication- Assisted Treatment Critical to Fight Addiction. With opioids and heroin use

as the focus of the article. Addiction has always been a problem in America, but in recent years it
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has reached almost epidemic levels. This disturbing trend has increased the focus on how to treat

addiction, it is said that Only 20% of people with addiction receive any kind of treatment

(Gingrich, par.4) a stat that is tragically low. He goes on to state that the combination of M.A.T.,

along with behavioral treatment, is the best evidence-based treatment option to treat addiction;

even though it is currently not utilized enough. There are some impressive numbers to go along

with these statements. The recovery medication Buprenorphine is said to reduce the cravings for

an opioid by half, which is an impressive number by its self. When you consider it is also said to

increase the chances of the addict not taking an opioid by 3.5 times the normal rate, and combine

that with The World Health Organization, UN-AIDS, the United Nations Office on Drug Policy,

(NIDA) all agree that people dependent on heroin and other opioids should have access to

M.A.T. (Gingrich, par.5) and you begin to start wondering why this isnt used more than it is

currently. The list of reasons for it being underused is varied and extensive. It ranges from

normal things such as prior authorization and counseling requirements; to more restrictive

measures such as quantity and duration limits; as well issues with insurance coverage and

network requirements.

Gingrich states numerous times in the article that behavioral counseling alone is not

enough to win the battle with opioid addiction. That the best way is to give the addicts a

medication to ease their transition away from the opioids. In doing this, it is thought to

improve the rates of people not going back to their original drug of choice. Gingrich compares

the lack of access to M.A.T. with, We would never give a person with Type 1 diabetes testing

strips with no insulin (par.6) which is a ridiculous statement. Giving an addict a different drug

to use is the same basic concept as telling a diabetic not to drink energy drinks, then prescribing

them soda, you are not solving the problem.

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Even though he states that M.A.T. is much more effective than other options, he also

says in almost the same sentence that only 20% of addicts receive any treatment at all. It leaves

me wondering how much of that 20% is taking this path to recovery and casts doubt on his entire

argument. He states repeatedly how the treatment option he claims to be the best is underutilized,

but unfortunately, he never gives us any good solid numbers to work with so instead we are left

to guess how much it is getting used. The simple fact is underused as Gingrich puts it, is very

subjective, is it 10% of all addicts that have access to it? Or is it 5% of the group of people that

get treatment? This kind of misleading number tossing game continues when he attempts to

sway the reader with cravings being reduced by and the chances of not taking an opioid raised

3.5 times. I can only assume he means by the people that are taking this drug and that he isnt

just throwing out numbers given to him by the makers of the drug. Lets assume that those

numbers do come from people taking this recovery med is it possible that they dont want to

use an opioid simply because they already have their fix in the bottle they got from the

pharmacist? There would be no point in buying drugs if they were already high.

Now instead of going out and getting the drugs from a friend or some shady criminal on

the street these addicts simply walk to the DR. and get a prescription which is filled by their new

drug dealer, the local Rite-aid or Wal-Mart pharmacist, at a much higher price compared to what

they were getting on the street. This way at least they have health insurance to cut some of the

cost. There is an alarming amount of conflicts of interest in this system. Get the addict hooked on

the drug that you say works better than any other treatment, that just so happens to funnel money

into the government at an insane markup from the addicts previous drug and the only people I

see benefiting from this M.A.T. are the bank accounts of the Drs prescribing this new drug, the

drug makers, and the government. The addict is still, and I can only assume will be for quite a
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while since the article doesnt mention how long this drug is prescribed for, an addict. He is no

better off than when he started this treatment in reality, he is much worse. The simple fact that

there are Restrictions such as prior authorization, counseling requirements, quantity limits, step

therapy requirements, duration limitations and network requirements (Gingrich, par.6) speaks

volumes about the safety and effectiveness of this drug. I find it disturbing that people have

become so greedy, so fragmented, and unquestioning as a society that switching an addict's drug

of choice to one that can be sold legally, not to help them get better, but simply to increase

revenue.

Contrary to what Medication-Assisted Treatment Critical to fight Addiction by Newt

Gingrich would like you to believe. Real long-term recovery from addiction doesnt come from a

pill. If it was as simple as switching one drug for another, we wouldnt have an issue with

addiction but its not. Real recovery from drug use comes from abstinence and changing the

addicts life in positive ways. With a clear head, to step back to find something in life that they

are passionate about and go for it. Change everything, move to a new town, get a different job,

get a different life. Change is the best way out of addiction. Not a slight of hand changing a

quarter to fifty cents, but real drastic and deep change, the kind of change that shifts your whole

outlook on this world and what it can be. I can say with 100% confidence that if an addict can

find that change, and see it through sober eyes, they will never have a problem with addiction

again.
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Work Cited Page

Gingrich, Newt, et al. "Medication-assisted treatment critical to fight addiction." Hill, 5 Oct. 2016,

p. 20. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ezproxy.scc.spokane.edu/login?

url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A473447087/OVIC?

u=spok_33383&xid=0ee2a6b1. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017