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Deal Us In

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Increase Access To All Forms of MOUD, It Works

Stigma says that taking medication for opioid use disorder is “replacing one drug for another” and “not real recovery.” This is dangerous and false. People who take MOUD are more likely to stay in recovery and enjoy healthy lives.*

Increase Access To All Forms of MOUD, It Works

What You Need To Know

  • Stigma, shame, and outdated concepts of recovery can keep people from accessing medication and support that could save their lives. 

  • In many groups, N.A. members who take medication are not permitted to speak at meetings and are not allowed to count their days of recovery (since they are “still using,” even by taking only prescribed medication). Some N.A. members shame and disparage medication, pushing cessation.* 

  • A study of 368 rehabs across the United States found that 21 percent actively advised researchers posing as patients to avoid medication, in line with N.A.’s position.

  • This stance ignores decades of data: Buprenorphine and methadone are the only treatments that reduce the death rate from opioid use disorder by 50 percent or more — no abstinence treatment has been shown to have this lifesaving effect.*  

  • Since these medications work only as long as people stay on them, encouraging quitting can put lives at risk.* 


Where to Go for More Information


Research

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