Resources
26 Results (showing 1 - 10)
Results sorted by updated date (oldest first)
Results sorted by updated date (oldest first)
Posted 1/19/2022 (updated 3/26/2024)
With the worst opioid overdose death crisis in the United States history, urgent new approaches to assist people who use drugs onto medication for opioid use disorder are necessary. In this commentary, addiction medicine clinicians and drug user union representatives align to argue that conventional ways of buprenorphine initiation that require periods of withdrawal must be augmented with additional novel approaches to initiation.
Posted 2/9/2022 (updated 3/26/2024)
Summary of innovation abstracts that were presented at the National Academy of Medicine’s recent Stigma of Addiction Summit.
Posted 3/9/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
A disproportionate number of people in jails have substance use disorders (SUDs).1 Incarceration provides a valuable opportunity for identifying SUD and addressing withdrawal.* Within the first few hours and days of detainment, individuals who have suddenly stopped using alcohol, opioids, or other drugs may experience withdrawal symptoms, particularly when they have used the substances heavily or long-term. Without its identification and timely subsequent medical attention, withdrawal can lead to serious injury or death. Deaths from withdrawal are preventable, and jail administrators have a pressing responsibility to establish and implement withdrawal policy and protocols that will save lives and ensure legal compliance. This brief describes the scope of the challenge, provides an overview of constitutional rights and key legislation related to substance use withdrawal, and outlines steps for creating a comprehensive response to SUD.
Posted 7/12/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
Syringe services programs (SSP) are harm reduction programs that provide a wide range of services including, but not typically limited to, the provision of new, unused hypodermic needles and syringes and other injection drug use supplies, such as cookers, tourniquets, alcohol wipes, and sharps waste disposal containers, to people who inject drugs. In this summary, readers will find information with respect to SSPs for each state, including citations to applicable statutes and/or regulations, whether the state allows SSPs by statute, whether there are any municipal or county ordinances or regulations in place within the state, program components, miscellaneous provisions, and information on any pending legislation.
Posted 7/25/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
In 2019, the Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute (ADAI) at the University of Washington launched the “Meds First” program to provide onsite, low-barrier access to buprenorphine in partnership with six syringe services programs across WA State. A key component of the Meds First service model was the addition of care navigation to support client engagement and retention in OUD treatment.
Posted 9/28/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
The University of Vermont Center on Rural Addiction (UVM CORA), the University of Rochester, and the Fletcher Group have conducted an online survey assessing SUD stigma (including stigmatizing language), treatment needs and barriers, and concerns through the perspectives of rural, RCORP-affiliated practitioners. The data report explores the findings of the survey, including practitioner recommendations on improving access to OUD treatment.
Posted 8/2/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
A new brief from the National Center for Health Statistics gives geographic detail on the latest increase in overdose death rates. Overall, urban counties had higher rates, but eight states – California, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia – had rates that were higher in rural counties.
Posted 9/14/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
The Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA (FDA Foundation), in partnership with several operating divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), convened two roundtable meetings to understand the perspectives of the harm reduction community, clinicians, and researchers about using fentanyl drug checking and screening as harm reduction and clinical strategies.
Posted 4/28/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
With the proliferation of fentanyl and other adulterants in the national illicit drug supply, people who use drugs (PWUD) are at greater risk of overdose. Among more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths that occurred between July 2021–June 2022, 64% involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Lowering the high rates of overdose among PWUD is possible, as evidence-based practices exist to prevent and respond to overdose, including fentanyl test strips and advanced drug checking equipment. To inform health departments’ harm reduction programming, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing – with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – developed Enhancing Harm Reduction Services in Health Departments: Fentanyl Test Strips and Other Drug Checking Equipment, an educational brief grounded by real-world experience.
Posted 6/8/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
There are multiple systems that can help individuals to address substance use disorder (SUD). A new report from the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law Center discusses how these multiple systems are often disjointed which creates barriers for those needing to access services for SUD.