America Needs the TREAT Act: Expanding Access to Effective Medication for Treating Addiction

The article focuses on the underuse of buprenorphine because it is the most widely used medication for treating opioid dependence that is cost-effective in the United States. It discusses restrictions placed on prescribers under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) of 2000 and the need to reintroduce the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act

Secularism, Sharia, and the Turkish Financial Markets

The financial markets in Turkey provide a laboratory to help resolve these competing views. Islamic law or Sharia contains a number of proscriptions that directly affect financial practices. The payment and receipt of interest is prohibited; so are most kinds of commercial insurance. These interpretations provided the impetus in the Islamic world for the creation of a class of banks that sought to offer Sharia compliant services. The first Islamic Banks in Turkey began operations in the 1980s. Their entry was initially tepid, in no small part because of secularist principles. Islamic financial institutions could not overtly advertise their religious orientation. The country had no “Islamic” banks, only finance houses. They were not Sharia compliant but “interest-free.” Moreover, the government left them in an uncertain regulatory status and subjected them to restrictions on growth. In this environment, the Islamic banks remained a peripheral part of the financial system. With the election of the AKP in 2002, however, the environment for Islamic banks in Turkey changed. Limitations on branch networks and capital raising were lifted. The government removed restrictions on the issuance of Sharia compliant bonds. Officials from the Islamic banks were appointed to the highest levels of government. This Article does several things. First, it examines principles of Islam that affect banking practices, with a particular emphasis on deposit insurance and credit cards. Second, the Article discusses the emergence of secularism in Turkey and the introduction of Islamic banks into the Turkish financial markets. The Article then examine their evolution, with particular emphasis on the changes implemented by the AKP. Finally, the Article examines the impact of these reforms, and what that impact says about Islamic influence in Turkey

Secularism, Sharia, and the Turkish Financial Markets

The financial markets in Turkey provide a laboratory to help resolve these competing views. Islamic law or Sharia contains a number of proscriptions that directly affect financial practices. The payment and receipt of interest is prohibited; so are most kinds of commercial insurance. These interpretations provided the impetus in the Islamic world for the creation of a class of banks that sought to offer Sharia compliant services. The first Islamic Banks in Turkey began operations in the 1980s. Their entry was initially tepid, in no small part because of secularist principles. Islamic financial institutions could not overtly advertise their religious orientation. The country had no “Islamic” banks, only finance houses. They were not Sharia compliant but “interest-free.” Moreover, the government left them in an uncertain regulatory status and subjected them to restrictions on growth. In this environment, the Islamic banks remained a peripheral part of the financial system. With the election of the AKP in 2002, however, the environment for Islamic banks in Turkey changed. Limitations on branch networks and capital raising were lifted. The government removed restrictions on the issuance of Sharia compliant bonds. Officials from the Islamic banks were appointed to the highest levels of government. This Article does several things. First, it examines principles of Islam that affect banking practices, with a particular emphasis on deposit insurance and credit cards. Second, the Article discusses the emergence of secularism in Turkey and the introduction of Islamic banks into the Turkish financial markets. The Article then examine their evolution, with particular emphasis on the changes implemented by the AKP. Finally, the Article examines the impact of these reforms, and what that impact says about Islamic influence in Turkey

Social & Legal Perspectives on Underuse of Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in combination with counseling is considered the most effective treatment for opioid dependence by the World Health Organization, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and American Society of Addiction Medicine. Two MAT medications, buprenorphine and methadone, are considered essential medicines by the World Health Organization. Despite MAT’s effectiveness, it is severely underused in U.S. treatment settings, including physicians’ offices, hospitals, the Veterans Administration, residential treatment centers, prisons, and drug courts. The dissertation examines social and legal reasons for under-use of MAT in the U.S., including dominance of abstinence-only treatment methods, separation of addiction treatment from mainstream medical treatment, insurance barriers, statutory and regulatory barriers, under-education of physicians in addiction medicine, under-education of mental health counselors in MAT, lack of physician involvement in the criminal justice system, and public understanding of addiction as a spiritual disease rather than a brain disease. The dissertation concludes with suggestions for expanding access to MAT, including government funding incentives and integration of MAT into existing addiction treatment centers and educational programs

Social & Legal Perspectives on Underuse of Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in combination with counseling is considered the most effective treatment for opioid dependence by the World Health Organization, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and American Society of Addiction Medicine. Two MAT medications, buprenorphine and methadone, are considered essential medicines by the World Health Organization. Despite MAT’s effectiveness, it is severely underused in U.S. treatment settings, including physicians’ offices, hospitals, the Veterans Administration, residential treatment centers, prisons, and drug courts. The dissertation examines social and legal reasons for under-use of MAT in the U.S., including dominance of abstinence-only treatment methods, separation of addiction treatment from mainstream medical treatment, insurance barriers, statutory and regulatory barriers, under-education of physicians in addiction medicine, under-education of mental health counselors in MAT, lack of physician involvement in the criminal justice system, and public understanding of addiction as a spiritual disease rather than a brain disease. The dissertation concludes with suggestions for expanding access to MAT, including government funding incentives and integration of MAT into existing addiction treatment centers and educational programs