Harm Reduction: Medications For Addiction Treatment

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease that changes the brain.¹  Just like with other chronic diseases, medication works to treat some addictions.² Harm reduction recognizes that medications for addiction treatment can be both beneficial and necessary for the treatment of some substance use disorders.³

When appropriately prescribed and monitored, medications have been proven to prevent overdoses and help people sustain recovery. Medications can help with many difference kinds of addictions. Tobacco users can wean themselves slowly off of tobacco by using nicotine replacement, and medications like Acamprosate have proven beneficial for helping people with alcohol use disorders.

For those addicted to opioids, including heroin and prescription painkillers, medication for addiction treatment (MAT) in the form of opioid maintenance has been proven by research to be beneficial.⁴ 

• Opioids change the structure of the brain, interfering with natural chemicals, and over time can affect the physiology of the brain.⁵
• Opioid use disorder goes beyond physical dependence, becoming a chronic, relapsing condition that cannot be overcome through willpower alone.⁶ 
• Medications like methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone have been proven to be effective in helping to reduce cravings for opioids and to minimize the symptoms of withdrawal.⁷ 
• People with opioid addictions have been shown to stay in recovery for years or even decades with the help of medication.⁸

Medications are also important for pregnant women who misuse opioids. Both buprenorphine and methadone and have been proven to result in better birth outcomes for pregnant women who use opioids,⁹ and Buprenorphine specifically is shown to reduce withdrawal symptoms in newborns.¹⁰ When used to treat Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, a group of symptoms exhibited by infants who were exposed to opioids in the womb, buprenorphine resulted in the use of less morphine, shorter treatment periods, and earlier hospital release dates.¹¹

Medication can also be lifesaving in the case of overdose. Naloxone is approved by the FDA to prevent opioid overdose¹² and has been proven to be safe¹³ and cost-effective.¹⁴ Naloxone kits are distributed by more than 644 programs in America,¹⁵ and nearly 26,500 overdoses have been reversed between 1996 and 2014.¹⁶

Given these facts, it’s clear that MAT is a fundamental part of any harm reduction program. Learn more about MAT here.