Liquid Handcuffs

“Helen Redmond fearlessly takes on the militarization of methadone clinics. Her searing analysis is crucial reading for those of us who work and live in health and social service systems.”—Helena Hansen, MD, PhD, professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and coauthor of Whiteout“This is not just a book—it’s a reckoning, exposing how too many methadone clinics have failed their patients in the service of the imperatives of market medicine, racial capitalism, and the carceral state. Helen Redmond harnesses decades of lived experience, frontline practice, and the perspectives of patients themselves to rip the curtain back on one of the most dehumanizing medical regimes in the United States. And in what is some of the most compelling abolitionist writing in medicine to appear in some time, she leaves us with but one conclusion: Methadone clinics are not broken systems in need of reform, they are punishment by design. Liquid Handcuffs is not just for health care practitioners, policymakers, or substance use patients, but for anyone who has ever thought critically or had questions about American medicine itself.”—Samuel Kelton Roberts, Jr., PhD, associate professor of history and sociomedical sciences at Columbia University and author of Infectious Fear“Methadone is an inherently political issue, and this brilliant book takes apart its dark history and offers what should be an encouraging future.”—Johann Hari, New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream“This is not just a critique of policy—it’s a cry for justice…. If you care about public health, human rights, or ending the overdose crisis, read this book. And if you’ve ever loved someone who needed methadone, you’ll see them on every page.”—Kathleen Cochran, founder of Moms for All Paths to Recovery“Painstakingly researched, Liquid Handcuffs is filled with powerful stories of methadone patients that will make readers furious.”—Patt Denning, PhD, coauthor of Over the Influence“Redmond brings the voices of methadone patients out of the closet in making a persuasive case for desegregating the role of methadone in the medical system.”—Ethan A. Nadelmann, JD, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance“Masterful…. An important read for anyone involved with addiction and an impassioned case for policymakers to abolish the methadone clinic system.”—Mark Tyndall, MD, professor of medicine at the School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia“Liquid Handcuffs unabashedly confronts the racist and classist system that allows for the dehumanization of methadone clients. Abolition of the current clinic system is the only way to liberate this lifesaving medication.”—Jess Tilley, director of the New England Drug Users Union“A visionary insight into the problems of our current methadone clinic system.”—William Amarquaye, PharmD, clinical pharmacist at Tampa General Hospital“Eye-opening…. [This book] exposes the historical class- and race-based fear and distrust underpinning this distinctively American way of distributing an essential medicine.”—Susanne MacGregor, honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine“A much-needed exposé of the methadone treatment system and its baked-in culture of cruelty. Redmond offers a vision of the kind of affordable, respectful, and compassionate health care that we all deserve.”—Lynn M. Paltrow, JD, founder of Pregnancy Justice (formerly National Advocates for Pregnant Women)“This book will no doubt be a catalyst for change.”—Fiona Patten, former Australian politician, harm reduction activist, and author of Sex, Drugs and the Electoral Roll

Helen Redmond is a licensed clinical social worker and an expert in drug addiction and treatment. Redmond worked for over two decades with people who use drugs in both medical and community settings. She is a senior editor and a multimedia journalist at the online publication Filter and writes frequently about methadone; she has published pieces at Al Jazeera and Harpers. Redmond co-directed Liquid Handcuffs- A Documentary to Free Methadone, which was an official selection of the Reel Recovery Film Festival in NYC and L.A.. and screened at events and conferences nationally and internationally. Redmond also co-directed Swallow THIS- A Documentary About Methadone and COVID-19. Redmond is an adjunct assistant professor at New York University, Silver School of Social Work.