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Making Progress Without Quitting: How Cutting Down on Opioid Use Can Improve Lives
Traditional treatments for prescription-type opioid addiction often focus on complete abstinence. However, this approach doesn’t always fit the needs of people struggling with opioid use, especially with the rise of fentanyl use. A harm reduction approach—including helping people cut back rather than quit entirely—may still lead to meaningful life improvements, but there is limited research on this. The following study aimed to find out whether using opioids less often during treatment could improve different aspects of daily life. We analyzed data from the OPTIMA trial, which compared two common treatments for opioid use disorder: take-home buprenorphine/naloxone and supervised methadone.
Over 24 weeks, 114 participants reported their opioid use every two weeks while also completing assessments of their well-being at the start and end of the study. The results showed that reducing opioid use frequency was linked to better physical and mental health, as well as less alcohol-related harm. However, there were no significant improvements in employment, family relationships, or legal issues. People who used opioids no more than 21 days per month experienced noticeable benefits. These findings highlight the importance of harm reduction approaches in addiction treatment, showing that even reducing opioid use—without full abstinence—can lead to significant life improvements.
Article by Anita Abboud
