Sharing the Wisdom: A Presidential Lecture Series for the Next Generation-Nat'l Drug Policy & ADM Advocacy Recording

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Video Summary

Dr. Taylor, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), discussed how addiction specialists can advance care through advocacy at the clinical, community, state, and national levels. Advocacy includes educating patients’ families and other clinicians, promoting overdose prevention in schools, sharing expertise through media and professional forums, and engaging directly with policymakers. He encouraged fellows to recognize that their specialized knowledge makes them important leaders, even early in their careers, and emphasized that advocacy setbacks should prompt renewed efforts rather than discouragement.<br /><br />Taylor outlined several ASAM policy priorities: the bipartisan Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act 2.0, which would allow qualified addiction physicians to prescribe methadone for opioid use disorder through community pharmacies; the Residential Recovery for Seniors Act, which would extend Medicare coverage to residential addiction treatment; and efforts to protect Medicaid exemptions for people with substance use and mental health disorders from work-reporting requirements.<br /><br />In discussion, he highlighted the need to expand adolescent addiction services, encouraged clinicians to use ASAM’s new adolescent treatment criteria, and recommended connecting with providers already serving youth. He also noted that pharmacists’ views on expanded methadone access vary, making education and dialogue essential.

Keywords

addiction advocacy

ASAM policy priorities

opioid treatment access

methadone prescribing

residential recovery

Medicare coverage

Medicaid exemptions

adolescent addiction services

overdose prevention