Treating Opioid Use Disorders in Drug Court: Participants’ Views on Using Medication-Assisted Treatments (MATs) to Support Recovery

• Author: Elizabeth A. Wahler,Abigail Edwards,Raychel M. Minasian,John R. Gallagher
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1057567719846227
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Treating Opioid Use Disorders

in Drug Court: Participants’

Views on Using

Medication-Assisted Treatments

(MATs) to Support Recovery

John R. Gallagher

1

, Elizabeth A. Wahler

2

,

Raychel M. Minasian

1

, and Abigail Edwards

1

Abstract

Drug courts began in 1989 in Miami-Dade County, FL. Due to their success in treating substance use

disorders and reducing criminal recidivism, they have expanded globally and are currently operating

in countries such as Australia, Canada, and Scotland, to name a few. Drug courts can be a key

intervention in addressing the opioid epidemic. This is the first known qualitative study to ask drug

court participants (n¼38) who have opioid use disorders questions related to their lived

experiences in drug court, as well as direct questions related to the use of medication-assisted

treatments (MATs) in drug court. Overall, drug court participants felt that MATs were helpful for

treating their opioid use disorders; however, some participants reported using other drugs while on

MATs and they viewed their recovery through a harm reduction lens. Additionally, participants

emphasized the importance of using MATs in combination with counseling that used cognitive and

behavioral therapies. Implications for drug court practice and future research are discussed.

Keywords

drug court, harm reduction, medication-assisted treatment, opioid use disorder, qualitative research

The United States (U.S.) is currently experiencing an opioid epidemic that is having devastating

consequences on individuals and famil ies, the health-care system, criminal j ustice system, and

overall economic well-being of the country. In 2015, more than 33,000 Americans died prematurely

from an opioid-related drug overdose (The Council of Economic Advisers, 2017). Overall, the

estimated economic impact of the opioid epidemic on the U.S. is 504 billion dollars; this estimate

1

School of Social Work, Indiana University South Bend (IUSB), South Bend, IN, USA

2

School of Social Work, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN, USA

Corresponding Author:

John R. Gallagher, School of Social Work, Indiana University South Bend (IUSB), Wiekamp Hall 2221, 1800 Mishawaka

Avenue, P.O. Box 7111, South Bend, IN 46634, USA.

Email: johngall@iupui.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

2019, Vol. 29(3) 249-261

ª2019 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/1057567719846227

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