Social justice paper

Methadone Exclusion in Drug Treatment Centers Name Subject Professor Date Methadone Exclusion in Drug Treatment Centers Policy Description and Its Effects on Clients The policy at my drug treatment facility prohibits the use of methadone as part of the Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) program. While clients can come in on methadone, we can no longer have clients continue on methadone in our program. Instead, clients have to go off of methadone on to other medications, such as Suboxone, Vivitrol, Brixadi, or Sublocade. This ban is a significant barrier for clients who have been doing well on methadone for treating opioid dependency, so it is necessary for them either to abruptly change medications, which is medically challenging, or leave the program. Methadone is an evidence-based component of MAT for OUD, a long-acting agonist that helps clients achieve stability and suppress withdrawal. The absence of methadone in our program results in a variety of outcomes for clients and for the program. Clients who have reached stability on methadone may opt not to come in for entry into the program, depriving them of necessary treatment and support. Detox clients who do come in can experience severe withdrawal and destabilization in the form of sudden withdrawal, which can result in an increased risk of relapse or overdose when leaving the program. From a social justice point of view, this policy disproportionately hurts marginalized groups, particularly race minorities and lower-income citizens who have limited access to diversifying treatment. Many of its users deserve to be in regions of high levels of dependency on opioids, and further reducing access isolates them further from necessary care. In declining to incorporate methadone in the MAT program, we in a way create systemic barriers for treatment, extending health disparity in already-at-risk communities. Assessment Through Social Justice, Anti-Racist, and Anti-Oppressive Lenses Denying methadone in our organization is a matter of social justice, anti-racism, and anti-oppression. Social justice dictates an equitable division of opportunities and resources in a way such that all have access to necessary medical care. The current policy is a violation of this ideal in so far as it is cutting off access on an institution-specific preference rather than medical necessity for a proven modality of care. This denial is being imposed in a disproportionate way on clients who may not have logistical or financial capability of accessing methadone elsewhere, once more perpetuating systemic inequalities. From an anti-racist position, this policy is disproportionately negative for Black and Latino communities, which face higher imprisonment and systemic barriers in accessing care, such ...