The National Center for Health Statistics reported that more than 107,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2021. More than three-quarters of overdose deaths involved opioids. Recent research estimates the number of adults living with opioid use disorder (OUD) ranges from 6.7 million to 7.6 million. These estimates suggest that 1–2 of every 100 U.S. residents has OUD.

In the United States, federal and state laws require people with OUD who seek treatment with methadone to travel to government-approved opioid treatment programs (OTPs), which limits access to methadone treatment. Increasing access to OUD treatment would reduce the number of people who seek drugs in the dangerous black market and, in turn, reduce the risk and incidence of overdose deaths.

Please join our distinguished panel to discuss ways to reform current methadone laws to destigmatize people with OUD, respect their humanity, and improve their access to methadone treatment.

Lunch to follow

• “Harm Reduction: Shifting from a War on Drugs to a War on Drug‐​Related Deaths,” by Jeffrey A. Singer
• “Cops Practicing Medicine,” by Jeffrey A. Singer & Trevor Burrus
• “Methadone in Primary Care — One Small Step for Congress, One Giant Leap for Addiction Treatment,” by Jeffrey H. Samet, M.D., M.P.H., Michael Botticelli, M.Ed., and Monica Bharel, M.D., M.P.H.
• “Methadone Matters: What the United States Can Learn from the Global Effort to Treat Opioid Addiction,” by S. L. Calcaterra, MD, MS, MPH,corresponding author P. Bach, MD, MSc, FRCPC, A. Chadi, PharmD, N. Chadi, MD, S. D. Kimmel, MD, MS, K. L. Morford, MD, P. Roy, MD, and J. H. Samet, MD, MS, MPH
• “Bridge Clinic Implementation of ’72-Hour Rule’ Methadone for Opioid Withdrawal Management: Impact on Opioid Treatment Program Linkage and Retention in Care,” by Jessica L. Taylor, Jordana Laks, Paul J. Christine, Jessica Kehoe, James Evans, Theresa W. Kim, Natalija M. Farrell, Cedric S. White, Zoe M. Weinstein, Alexander Y. Walley
• “It’s Time for Methadone to Be Prescribed as Part of Primary Care,” by Jeffrey Samet, Michael Botticelli and Monica Bharel
• “SAMHSA’s Methadone Reforms Toothless Until We End Clinics’ Power,” by Helen Redmond
• Liquid Handcuffs: A Documentary to Free Methadone
• Swallow THIS: A Documentary about Methadone & Covid-19