During the COVID pandemic, drug overdose deaths rose by almost 30% in the U.S. — the highest number ever recorded, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We are in the midst of a “fourth wave” of high mortality involving methamphetamine and cocaine use in the United States. This stimulant-related escalation in overdose deaths demands an effective long-term approach. With no FDA-approved medication for Stimulant Use Disorder, the best solution is Contingency Management.

Background:
The single best-evidenced approach with the largest effect size and greatest cost-effectiveness is Contingency Management (CM). CM is a reward system that works.
It provides tangible incentives (e.g., modest monetary rewards) in progressively increasing amounts for objectively determined health behaviors such as abstinence (confirmed by substance use tests and treatment attendance. In over 100 peer-reviewed scientific reports, CM boosts drug abstinence rates TWICE that of usual care. Studies demonstrate the long-term efficacy of CM, vital to successful recovery from drug abuse and addiction, saving millions of dollars in Medicaid, CHIP and private insurance and enabling people to hold onto their jobs and make contributions to society and the economy.

Opportunity:
With the White House stating that addressing the nation’s stimulant epidemic with contingency management and remote technology solutions is a Year One Priority, states must understand how to use it in their communities. Learn how at this briefing!

Experts Will Explain:

• What is different about this fourth wave of the drug epidemic?
• What is Contingency Management?
• Why is Contingency Management the only effective treatment for this wave of the epidemic?
• What can states do to implement Contingency Management practices?

Moderator:

Katie Collins | Former Program Director of the Biden Cancer Initiative and Special Assistant to the Director of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force
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Speakers:

• ‍‍Former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy | Lead sponsor of the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
• Dr. H. Westley Clark, MD, JD, MPH | Dean’s Executive Professor of Public Health at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara California; Former Director of the Center for
  Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service
• Dr. Garrett E. Moran, PhD | Associate Director of Services and Policy Innovation, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute; Professor, Health Policy, Leadership, and
  Management, School of Public Health; Professor, Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, School of Medicine
• Dr. Shawn A. Ryan, MD, MBA, ABEM, ABAM | President & Chief Medical Officer, Brightview Ohio
• Dr. David Gastfriend, MD | Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder, DynamiCare