Marin Co. touts successful pilot program that gives meth users gift cards for staying clean

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Almost two years after it started, officials in Marin County say its pilot program that gives gift cards to meth users is a massive success.

"Honestly, we don't have a lot of alternatives for stimulant use. So for opioid use disorder or for alcohol use disorder or even for nicotine addiction, we have medications for those addictions treatment...But for stimulants, we don't have something like that that's FDA approved," said Charis Baz of Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services.

The idea behind the program is that at least once a week, participants with a history of drug use get tested.

If their test results come back clean, they're then rewarded a gift card to one of dozens of retailers of their choice, with options including Walmart, Safeway or even Apple.

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So far, 94 people have taken part in Marin's program, earning thousands of dollars in gift cards.

One of the organizations participating in the gift card program is the Ritter Center.

Its CEO told ABC7 News it is currently working with 19 individuals and that their results have been overwhelmingly positive.

Ritter Center CEO Mark Shotwell said the program has been an effective way of helping treat people in ways beyond just their substance abuse. He said once someone is introduced to the staff, it's easier to connect them with other wraparound services they may need.

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"If we think about what happens with stimulants or other drugs that people use, they're a very positively reinforcing substance. So if you can replace that reinforcement with a positive reinforcement that is healthy, then people are able to utilize that to be able to let go of the substance," Shotwell said.

Marin is one of several counties around the state participating in the pilot program, which is run through MediCal.

Given the results, officials hope that once its over, a permanent replacement will take over.

"Anything we can do when people want to quit, to support them in that journey has so many positive ripple effects in society," Baz said.

Last year, several thousand people died from a stimulant overdose in California.