Gift Cards Can Be a Tool to Stop Meth Addiction

AND THE GIFT OF A BETTER LIFE –

April 16, 2024 – Clyde Davis battled a methamphetamine and heroin addiction for over nine years. Contingency management uses positive reinforcement as a behavioral treatment for stimulant addiction. People are rewarded with small-value gift cards or vouchers for submitting urine drug tests negative for stimulants. “I was able to get myself some clothes, something to eat,” he said. “It really motivated me to want to keep showing up and keep having clean [drug tests].”

Davis graduated from the 12-week program successfully and has abstained from drugs ever since. He now works as a rehabilitation technologist at the Rimrock Foundation, alongside the people who he says helped save his life.

“I am living a life that I never thought I would ever dream of living. It’s beautiful,” he said.

Stimulants are a class of drugs that speed up the body’s systems and can lead to increased alertness, energy and feelings of euphoria. These drugs can be very addicting because they flood the brain with dopamine, hijacking reward pathways, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.