Accessing treatment against drug use: the biopolitics of methadone across the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict divide

This article examines the biopolitics of methadone medication as part of governmentality regulating life across the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict divide. It explores how patients receiving opioid agonist maintenance treatment (OAMT) residing in Abkhazia, where methadone is banned, cross the divide to access treatment in Georgia, where the substance is tightly controlled and dispensed in single daily doses. Drawing on 15 weeks of qualitative fieldwork (2022, 2025), the study reveals a fragmented governmentality shaped by territorial contestation, contested sovereignties and health regimes. It highlights how OAMT patients struggle to access treatment and engage in everyday forms of resistance to challenge restrictive regulation at the local, national and international levels, yet so far unsuccessfully.