For family and friends

First, the honest part

Treatment is voluntary. We can't enroll someone who hasn't decided to call, and pressure usually backfires. What you can do is make the path shorter and safer for when they're ready, and that matters more than it sounds.

What helps

• Keep naloxone in the house and know how to use it. Overdose is the immediate danger. We'll mail you a free kit; so will most county health departments. It takes two minutes to learn.
• Say the specific thing, once, without a lecture. "There's a program where you can see a doctor from your phone today and get medication. I'll sit with you while you call. No judgment." Then let it go for a while.
• Learn what Suboxone is so you can answer the "isn't that just another drug?" question calmly. Our Suboxone page is written for exactly that conversation.
• Remove practical barriers. A working phone, a ride to the pharmacy, someone to watch the kids for an hour. These are often the real reasons people don't start.
• Call us yourself. You can ask us anything on their behalf. We can't talk about a patient without their permission, but we can tell you how the program works and what the first call will be like.

What doesn't help

• Ultimatums and threats, which tend to end the conversation rather than start treatment.
• Hiding or throwing away their drugs, which usually just changes where they use, sometimes somewhere less safe.
• Expecting one relapse to mean treatment failed. Returns to use are common in the first year. The goal is that each one is shorter and safer, and that they come back.