Expanding access to methadone, a medication used to fight opioid addiction, is imperative in the effort to curb the nation’s substance use disorder epidemic, regional officials say.

Their comments come in response to a recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association that found the risk of discontinuing treatment was higher among first-time recipients who received buprenorphine and naloxone when compared to those treated with methadone.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who introduced a bipartisan bill in March 2023 to expand access to methadone, issued a statement after the study was released, calling methadone an “essential and effective treatment” that should be available in pharmacies.

Ruth Potee, medical director of Behavioral Health Network (BHN), which runs four methadone clinics in western Massachusetts, agrees.

“From a scientific standpoint, we all think these two medicines are incredibly effective,” Potee said. “We consider them to be miracle molecules. The problem is that they’re not widely available, particularly methadone.”

Markey and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, have put forward the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act, which would expand access to methadone.

“In the face of a fentanyl crisis that is claiming tens of thousands of lives per year, we have a life-saving medication that works — methadone,” Markey said in a statement. “We have rules in place that mean people in western Massachusetts can’t get the medication they need because opioid treatment programs are too far away, their hours are too short or the stigma is too high.”

One innovative option is offered at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction in Greenfield. In 2019, the jail became the first in the nation to become fully licensed and incorporated as an opioid treatment program, according to Assistant Superintendent Ed Hayes.

Hayes, who also serves as administrative director of the jail’s methadone program, said most people in the jail have a substance use disorder.

“The rate of overdose for people who are incarcerated once they’re released, within 72 hours, is astronomically higher than it is for another person with the same substance use disorder,” Hayes said. “This is because most jails in the nation don’t offer addiction treatment.”

Hayes said most people he sees in the Greenfield jail have not seen a medical provider in a long time and they’re often the first to treat people medically in years.

According to the National Institutes of Health, 43.8% of 1,028 jails across the country offer medication for opioid use disorder. Only 12.8% make these medications available to anyone addicted to opioids.

Hayes said the lack of access for fighting opioid addiction comes from the stigma surrounding drug addiction.

“Addiction is a disease, not a moral failing, and many of the regulations that were created for the DEA came out of the War on Drugs,” Hayes said. “All jails should be offering this treatment.”

The Markey-Paul bill would allow pharmacies to dispense methadone for opioid use disorder. Currently, it is only available at treatment programs for opioid use disorder.

Potee said the bill would expand access to methadone even in Massachusetts, which already has numerous methadone clinics. As of May, the state has 55 brick-and-mortar and three mobile opioid treatment programs, according to a study done by Tufts University School of Medicine. This does not include BHN’s mobile van, which launched in Ware in July.

Potee said people stop taking medication because they can’t get to an opioid treatment program. The study by Tufts tracks how far people have to go in the state to pick up methadone.

According to Potee, 80% of the counties in the country don’t have access to an opioid treatment program and it’s usually more available in urban areas.

Hayes said he hopes if the Markey-Paul bill passes, it will change the “bureaucratic regulation around methadone.”

It took the jail 54 weeks to get their license to dispense the medication.

“The amount of hoops you have to go through to become a methadone clinic is ludicrous,” Hayes said.