CARL HART WAS RIGHT –
April 1, 2022 – “The approach, known as … CM, has racked up a slew of successes. It has been shown to dramatically reduce people’s smoking during pregnancy and to help decrease binge drinking. It is also highly promising for combating methamphetamine addictions.”
Stop right there, many taxpayers will say. Why should somebody be paid not to do something they already shouldn’t be doing? And won’t somebody who gets paid just be tempted to go buy some more drugs?
Those are fair questions. But the answers are that CM has shown significantly above-average results in encouraging drug addicts to quit using narcotics. And someone who’s still on drugs won’t get any money when they flunk their tests. The typical CM program includes drug tests twice a week. If the participant is clean, he gets either a random prize or something like cash or a gift card. Other behavior, such as showing up for a counseling appointment, can be rewarded as well. For best results, the gifts are immediate, to reinforce positive behavior right away.
