Addiction

An estimated 400,000 Coloradans are in recovery for substance-use disorders. In 2019, the state released a five-year plan to help people get and stay sober. A key aspect of the plan is the use of recovery residences. The number of homes is growing as more people choose to live in a substance-free environment.

Today on Colorado Edition, we learn about efforts to combat the stigma of opioid addiction. And we hear about a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s ban on Native American school mascots.

As a crisis of substance abuse and addiction continues to grip the United States, some treatment methods are focused on “safer use” rather than total abstinence.

On Jan. 1, Health First Colorado is expanding its substance use disorder benefit. Residential and inpatient treatment and withdrawal management services will be part of Medicaid’s covered services. The expansion was authorized by the state legislature in 2018. The additional services will give members access to a full range of treatment options.

The return of methamphetamine is overwhelming police, ERs and treatment centers — especially west of the Mississippi. But, unlike opioid dependency, meth addiction has no reliable treatment.

More than $700,000 from the National Institute of Health's Institute of Drug Abuse is headed to the University of Colorado Denver to study treatments for…

What's on people's minds in rural America? A new poll shows that the addiction crisis and economic issues have people worried. But many retain an upbeat outlook about the future of their communities.