There’s a push in the legislature to make it easier for minors to get medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder. Twin bills in the House and Senate call for the state to stop funding programs that restrict the treatment, while creating a fund to support programs that offer it.
The bills, SB35 and HB149, were introduced by Sens. Gerald Ortiz y Pino (D-Albuquerque) and Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho) in the Senate and Rep. Cristina Parajón (D-Albuquerque) in the House.
Dr. Nathan Birnbaum, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of New Mexico, said the bills pave the way for more evidence-based treatment in the state.
“You cannot begin to make a significant dent in overdose death if you do not commit to addressing substance use disorder among adolescents,” he said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has endorsed medication-assisted treatment. A recent study from Yale University even said that non-medication based treatments for opioid use disorder could be worse than none at all.
Still, Birnbaum says that the treatment is hard for young people to access nationwide.
“A family would need to call well over 20 programs before finding a program that would provide their child with buprenorphine, which is the standard of care,” he said.
The bills set a timeline for state departments to move away from operating and contracting with facilities that restrict medication-assisted treatment, while setting rules for facilities that use it.
They also would create a fund for “evidence-based addiction treatment for minors” to support programs that use it.
This story has been updated to reflect that Birnbaum is an assistant professor.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
