Racial Inequities in OUD Treatment

Abstract

The racial differences across harm reduction programs and MAT treatments are an inequity that is deserving of people attention. The inequity was created by political policies enacted by the Nixon administration in terms of the targeting of minorities for drug use imprisonment. It was further carried out by the doubling down of the "War on Drugs" throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. This has continued into the present with laws around drug paraphernalia that are still enforced today. America has so long criminalized drug use -- specifically for people of color -- that it has led people to believe they aren't deserving of care or treatment. If we are to end this harmful representation, it starts with these policies. We must provide funding for programs that specifically meet people of color "where they're at". We must increase the number of people of color working within these programs so that people may get treatment without implicit bias'. We must end laws that not only make people with OUD feel unworthy of treatment, but also decreases their interactions with law enforcement -- a system that many people of color see as discriminatory. These policies represent a start to addressing several inequities associated with OUD. [From concluding section]