WASHINGTON – People who are struggling with a stimulant addiction, especially to methamphetamine, could soon receive more incentives to stay in recovery. The Biden administration has expanded the contingency management (CM) program, a form of substance use disorder treatment increasingly used to help reduce the use of stimulants. The evidence-based treatment provides motivational incentives, often gift cards, to encourage and sustain recovery from stimulant use disorder.
Previously, federal grants supporting CM were capped at $75 per year, a limit experts argued wasn’t enough to drive meaningful behavioral change. The new policy allows the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to fund CM services up to $750 annually.
Though CM has been controversial, numerous studies highlight its effectiveness in reducing methamphetamine use. SAMHSA emphasizes that CM works best when combined with other supportive treatments and services. However, the organization cautions against using CM to promote abstinence from opioids due to safety concerns. Prolonged opioid abstinence can lower tolerance, increasing the risk of overdose upon relapse. For opioid use disorder, SAMHSA continues to recommend medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) as the gold standard treatment.