HOW MEDICATION WORKS AS TREATMENT
Medication-assisted-therapy (MAT), is one to examine when taking a look at how medicine works as a therapy.
SAMHSA (2019) is a non-profit organization that promotes mental health and well. It stipulates that the use of medicines in conjunction with counseling and behavioral treatments to manage drug use disorders and avoid opiate addiction is known as medication-assisted therapy (MAT).
Not only are medicines used in MAT authorized by the FDA, however there are also specific criteria for how MAT is used, particularly when it is part of an opioid therapy program.
According to SAMHSA (2019), besides prescription medicine, individuals receiving treatment in an OTP must obtain healthcare counseling, occupational, educational, and other evaluation and treatment interventions. This is in effect to not just decrease illegal drug usage, but also to offer people with interventions aimed at enhancing their life quality when undergoing treatment.
ISSUES RELATED TO USING MEDICATION AS TREATMENT IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Medication may be a beneficial therapeutic option in the criminal justice system. The aim is to not only prevent drug addiction, but also to improve how people perform on a daily basis. When handled correctly, mental health and substance abuse support may be effective. Regression is extremely probable if continuous support is not provided.
While attempts to reform the criminal justice system have been undertaken, services like MAT remain underused.
False beliefs regarding the roles of MAT medicines and their adverse effects remain in the area of criminal justice, resulting to underuse of this evidence-based therapy. Many people have misconceptions about MAT, with erroneous claims that it covers up or replaces substance use, instead of viewing it as a resource that may help people recover and rehabilitate so they can fulfill their lives to their full capacity.
In the criminal justice system, medication compliance entails not just reviewing existing rules, but also proposing modifications to regulations in order to promote the concept of medication as part of therapy. According to SAMHSA (2019), focusing on rehabilitation as a result of a jail-based approach is a departure from conventional methods and will need custodial personnel adopting non-punitive reactions to treatment non-compliance. When considering the use of medication as part of therapy, it is critical that preparations be made to provide continuous support for medication programs, such that medication as therapy is not disrupted. Regulations must mirror this support, such that continuing services linked to the use of medicine as a therapy complement the system set up that the criminal justice system and uses as its basis of management for individuals who come into touch with the law and need such necessities.
REFERENCES
SAMHSA. (2019). MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT (MAT) IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: BRIEF GUIDANCE TO THE STATES. Retrieved from https://store.samhsa.gov/system/files/pep19- matbriefcjs.pdf
SAMHSA. (2019). Medication and Counseling Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted- treatment/treatment