"A show about people who stand in line and fight for safe supply"

This is the third episode of a podcast by and for people who are fighting for a safe supply of drugs in the United States. Methadone is the first battleground in this fight, and this storytelling show emphasizes the voices of patients and directly impacted people in that battle. The material for this show stems from the Naturally Noncompliant meeting that takes place every other Thursday and is organized by National Survivors Union, the United States national drug users union—the national voice of people who use drugs.

Nick Voyles is the Hepatitis C liaison for National Survivors Union, the United States drug users union, as well as the executive director of Indiana Recovery Alliance and the treasurer of NC Survivors Union. He is a co-author of The methadone manifesto: Treatment experiences and policy recommendations from methadone patient activists in the American Journal of Public Health, and a national community-driven survey on patient experiences of methadone treatment changes during the first wave of COVID-19 in Harm Reduction Journal. Fueled by his experiences with injection drug use, incarceration, and homelessness, Nick is a national leader and activist focused on opioid agonist treatment reform and viral hepatitis elimination. He is a proud Hepatitis C and Interferon survivor who has served his community in numerous capacities, including as a crisis management coordinator.

Abby Coulter, is a strong advocate for methadone reform. In 2011, she founded MAT Support & Awareness (MATSA), an organization by and for people on methadone and buprenorphine. Abby has spent over two decades fighting for the rights of people either trying to access or who are on methadone throughout the United States and internationally. She is a co-author of “The methadone manifesto: treatment experiences and policy recommendations by methadone patient activists,” a 2022 editorial published in the American Journal of Public Health, as well as a commentary published in the International Journal of Drug Policy in 2021 on community driven research led by people who use drugs. She was a planning committee member and a speaker for the Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2022 two-day virtual event, “Methadone Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: Examining Federal Regulations and Laws - A Workshop” co-sponsored by the Office for National Drug Control Policy. Her own lived experience as a pregnant person using drugs and a pregnant and parenting person on methadone is what led her to life as a methadone advocate.

We are delighted to announce the upcoming conference, “Liberating Methadone: Building a Roadmap and Community for Change.” The conference will be hosted by the NYU Center for Opioid Epidemiology in New York City on September 21st and 22nd of 2023. This is an exciting partnership between the National Survivors Union, National Coalition to Liberate Methadone, and NYU Center for Opioid Epidemiology to deliver this conference.

This conference aims to bring together members from various backgrounds to discuss and exchange ideas on how to improve access to and use of methadone to reduce the harms of opioid use. Our goal is to break down traditional barriers between researchers, clinicians, policy makers and people who use drugs and to create a shared space for collective understanding. Conference proceedings will be gathered to generate a report with actionable recommendations for policy and clinical practice. This two day conference can be attended in person or virtually via a webinar. To register, click on the flyer to register at the EventBrite link.

For the full Conference Agenda, click here.

Artwork By Jordan Scott

Voice of Naturally Noncompliant is Zee St. James