Buprenorphine Treatment for Jail Inmates
NDRI is pleased to announce the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant award, R21 DA020583, to fund research conducted by Principal Investigator, Stephen Magura, PhD, CSW. Heroin and other opioid abuse continues as a significant problem among the criminal justice population. Although methadone maintenance has been the primary treatment for chronic opioid dependence since the 1970's, correctional systems in the U.S., with very few exceptions, have not provided institutional access to methadone maintenance. Buprenorphine maintenance is a recently approved therapy that may be more acceptable than methadone to the criminal justice system and opioid-dependent offenders. The specific aims of this exploratory/developmental study are:
- To determine the feasibility of providing buprenorphine maintenance to out-of treatment opioid-dependent offenders in a jail setting and of transitioning those patients to buprenorphine maintenance in the community after release.
- To conduct a randomized clinical trial of buprenorphine maintenance (N=50) vs. methadone maintenance (N=50) initiated in the jail setting and continuing in the community.
- To determine the reasons that offenders fail to report for community-based buprenorphine or methadone treatment after release or drop out of community treatment.
The two year study is being conducted in collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Jason Hershberger MD, serves as Medical Director and Co-Investigator.
April, 2006