Researchers again call on HHS to legitimize CM

Contingency management (CM) is the only proven treatment for stimulant use disorder. It is based on paying people money for staying off of stimulants, but the reward has to be much bigger than the $75 a year allowed under federal law (see CM, only effective treatment for stimulants, on the ropes as methamphetamine surges, ADAW June 8, 2020; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32742 ). Last week, top researchers again called on the federal government to pay attention to this problem, raising the cap. Methamphetamine‐involved deaths increased from 545 in 1999 to 32,353 in 2021. Of the more than 100,000 illicit drug deaths in 2021, two‐thirds involved fentanyl, but almost half of the fentanyl‐involved deaths included the co‐use of methamphetamine, cocaine or other stimulants.