In developed countries around the globe, the standard of care for opiate addiction is what’s known as “medically assisted treatment.” Under a doctor’s supervision, people with addictive disorders are prescribed medications like methadone, buprenorphine and Suboxone, which remove the cravings associated with opiate addiction.

In the U.S., however, by far the most common form of treatment is based around the concept of strict abstinence. Advocates of the abstinence model consider the use of Suboxone or methadone to be tantamount to using heroin itself. Many in the medical establishment oppose the abstinence model — as do officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration — and a recent Huffington Post investigation found t…