A contingency management program is currently helping people in LA’s Skid Row community stop using methamphetamine. Contingency management incentivizes individuals, most commonly monetarily, for positive behavioral changes. CBAM’s Dr. Shoptaw was interviewed for the article and noted the importance of these interventions in going beyond just paying people to do what they should be doing, “This is an intervention that actually stimulates the brain to work in different ways so that their goals are met.” Studies have proven that this type of intervention is highly effective in the treatment of substance use disorders and yet it is not widely utilized under federally funded health programs. Dr. Siddarth Puri, an addiction psychiatrist at LAC+USC Medical Center who is currently using contingency management as treatment through a foundation-funded program stated, “This would be the gold standard if it was a medication.”
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