Can a Target gift card help you stay off meth? This program is trying it
LOS ANGELES — Mark had been wanting to quit using meth for a while when someone pointed him to the folding table propped up at the skid row site where homeless people stop for showers and laundry.
If his urine tested negative for stimulants, the man advised him, "they give you a gift card."
Behind the table, a program assistant hastened to clarify that it was a chance at a gift card — just a chance. But a chance was enough for Mark, who began filling out paperwork to sign up for the 12-week program, hoping the incentive could help him break from his addiction.
"I've lost everything. My family. My kids. My grandkids. My wife. My housing. Just everything," said the 56-year-old, who declined to give his last name. He has been living in a van in South Los Angeles. "It's really affecting me bad. But it's hard not to do it."
It is a simple idea at first glance: Giving people rewards, week by week, can encourage them to keep doing difficult things.
Researchers say such "contingency management" programs use the reward systems in the brain to nudge people away from drug use.
"This isn't just paying people
