Abstract
Although many in the addiction treatment field use the term "medication-assisted treatment" to describe a combination of pharmacotherapy and counseling to address substance dependence, research has demonstrated that opioid agonist treatment alone is effective in patients with opioid dependence, regardless of whether they receive counseling. The time has come to call pharmacotherapy for such patients just "treatment". An explicit acknowledgment that medication is an essential first-line component in the successful management of opioid dependence.