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I am writing on behalf of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD), the nation's leading opioid treatment advocacy organization supporting the use of medications to treat opioid addiction. I am inviting you to join us in confronting the challenges facing patients and OTPs in the United States.

We have been expanding our Association's work through state member chapters and have also admitted the Mexican Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence into AATOD. We have joined with our colleagues in EUROPAD to establish the World Federation for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, which will expand access to this lifesaving treatment throughout the world.

Since AATOD was founded in 1984, we have worked to advance our field through major conferences, risk management seminars, clinical training events, media training workshops and Hepatitis-C training opportunities. We have also worked with stakeholders in the criminal justice system to expand access to methadone and buprenorphine for people in need of such care in jails, drug courts and probation departments. We have collaborated with research partners to implement a long-term study of prescription opioid abuse among recent admissions to OTPs. More than 25,000 patients have participated in this study at the present time.

I am asking you to make a contribution to AATOD so that we may continue our critical work in organizing treatment providers, advocates and interested stakeholders. Your contribution will continue the extraordinary work that has defined medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction for more than 40 years. Please click here for a link to the donation brochure, which explains how to make contributions to AATOD. Your donation is fully tax-deductible since AATOD is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

As you know, reports of methadone-associated deaths have significantly increased over the course of the past several years as methadone has been prescribed to treat pain in the United States. We expect another round of major news stories to be published on this topic along with new federal agency reports. These news articles confuse the public about the appropriate use of methadone in treating chronic opioid addiction as opposed to the use of this medication in pain management.

Your donation will enhance AATOD's advocacy efforts and help expand our media training capabilities and public education campaigns. We plan to use your contributions to work more effectively with the media and our advocacy partners to change the tenor of these negative stories.

Please be as generous as you can in making a donation to AATOD. The donation brochure provides for different donation levels and all amounts are helpful and welcome.

As indicated on the donation form and on our website, you can elect to be listed as a donor to AATOD in a special section of our website or End-of-Year Report. Please give every serious consideration to this request so that AATOD may continue its work to preserve a future for our patients and our treatment system.

Sincerely yours,

Mark W. Parrino, MPA
President