Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

Addiction expert Richard Rawson, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and research professor at the Vermont Center for Behavior and Health

(OCTOBER 12, 2022) Renowned addiction expert Richard Rawson, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and research professor at the Vermont Center for Behavior and Health, spoke with Seven Days for an article on increased meth use around Burlington.

While Vermont has been intent on its opioid crisis, meth use has been quietly increasing in the Burlington area. The true scope of meth’s reach is not fully understood, as opioids draw most of the state’s attention and resources. But health care providers warn that the drug is devastating to users and fear that the problem will worsen if Vermont doesn’t find a better way to treat it.

Drug treatment providers often have little to offer people hooked on meth. There’s no approved medication to curb meth cravings. Drug treatment counselors have always called for better inpatient rehab options, but Vermont has also been slow to adopt even the outpatient behavioral therapies shown to have positive impacts on meth addiction.

Rawson’s now working in the Burlington area to help establish new treatment programs based on a concept called “contingency management,” pioneered by Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of psychiatry and director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, which involves offering people rewards such as prepaid debit cards when they meet certain treatment goals. The strategy has become the gold standard for outpatient stimulant-addiction treatment.

Rawson hopes success in these programs will convince Vermont to invest more in stimulant treatment programs statewide.