National Coalition to Liberate Methadone

announcements and news

liberating methadone conference report now available

NCLM is thrilled to announce the publication of our conference proceedings and recommendations from the “Liberating Methadone: Building a Roadmap & Community for Change” Conference, held on September 21 and 22nd in NYC, a seminal event that brought together leading subject matter experts, policymakers, and advocates to address innovative approaches, policy reforms, and best practices for methadone treatment. The report highlights some of the main findings from the Conference, describing the urgent need to restructure methadone treatment in the U.S. and modify policies and practices towards a person-centered, humane, and more effective system that reduces overdose deaths. The report also details a set of proposed recommendations for providers, government agencies, researchers, and others in the field aimed at improving access to methadone, reducing stigma, and enhancing the overall person-centeredness and effectiveness of methadone treatment. To find report and learn more, head to the Conference page. 

There will also be a NYU COEP online seminar discussing the report on Sept 19, 2024 at 12pm ET. To register, sign up here. 

Thank you to those who attended the liberating methadone conference!

On September 21st and 22nd, the National Coalition held its Liberating Methadone Conference in collaboration with the National Survivors Union and NYU Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy, bringing together 800 people (in person and virtually) to discuss and exchange ideas on how to improve access to and use of methadone to reduce the harms of chaotic opioid use. If you missed the conference and would like a copy of the recordings, please reach out to us at liberatemethadone@gmail.com. 

NCLM thanks all of its members, collaborators, funders, and everyone who contributed to making the conference a huge success. Conference Reports summarizing clinical and policy recommendations and takeaways from the conference are underway and will likely be released in early Spring 2024. 

join the methadone access awareness rally on 9/22 at 7-8:30pm

Allies and people with lived and living experience of methadone maintenance treatment: Please join us at a Methadone Access Awareness Rally and Press Conference held by National Survivors Union and the National Coalition to Liberate Methadone outside Judson Memorial Church (55 Washington Sq. South) on September 22nd, 7-8:30 PM. 

We will be doing some pageantry—nurses, counselors, clinicians, and researchers will be dressed in scrubs and lab coats and clergy in vestments, circling patients in the middle. Patients will be in black and in masks, demonstrating their fear of clinic retaliation for their resistance to draconian methadone clinic policies—the draconian clinic, state, and federal policies which are a barrier to life-saving access to methadone during the overdose crisis. We will even be pouring out symbolic Mountain Dew to protest the humiliating and clinically unnecessary experience of urine testing—our success in our treatment should be judged by the holistic quality of our lives rather than the chemical content of our urine.

Come hear Hiawatha Collins, Dr. Kim Sue, Reverend Erica Poellot, and Louise Vincent discuss how now is the time for desperately needed change in methadone treatment. We will be condemning the culture of cruelty at clinics, and reimagining a culture of care—one where methadone for drug treatment is available through primary care prescription. We will also be remembering and honoring our dead in this overdose crisis, many of whom might have survived if they’d had consistent access to methadone. 

attend the upcoming liberating methadone conference (9/21-9/22)

We are delighted to announce the upcoming conference, “Liberating Methadone: Building a Roadmap and Community for Change.” The conference will take place in New York City on September 21st and 22nd of 2023. This is an exciting partnership between the National Survivors Union, National Coalition to Liberate Methadone, and NYU Langone Center for Opioid Epidemiology to deliver this conference.

This conference aims to bring together members from various backgrounds to discuss and exchange ideas on how to improve access to and use of methadone to reduce the harms of opioid use. Our goal is to break down traditional barriers between researchers, clinicians, policy makers and people who use drugs and to create a shared space for collective understanding. Conference proceedings will be gathered to generate a report with actionable recommendations for policy and clinical practice. This two day conference can be attended in person or virtually via a webinar. To register, please click on the EventBrite link.

For the full Conference Agenda, click here.

This conference was supported by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts and Vital Strategies with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, funding from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE), an R13 DA058520 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and funding from the NYU-H+H Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001445. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of the funders or the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government