Resources
16 Results (showing 1 - 10)
Results sorted by updated date (oldest first)
Results sorted by updated date (oldest first)
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 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 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 7/21/2023 (updated 3/28/2024)
Disparities in access to naloxone exist and organizations are working to remove some of these barriers by utilizing innovative methods such as vending machines to distribute the overdose medication. This provides life-saving medication in an accessible way to everyone, although laws vary state to state on the distribution of these tools. More information on naloxone vending machines can be found in these resources by the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) and The Network for Public Health Law.
Posted 7/27/2020 (updated 3/28/2024)
The American Medical Association’s Opioid Task Force report shows a dramatic increase in fatalities involving illicit opioids, stimulants (e.g. methamphetamine), heroin and cocaine and a similarly dramatic drop in the use of prescription opioids.
Posted 8/24/2020 (updated 3/28/2024)
Syringe service programs (SSPs), which provide access to sterile syringes and other injection equipment and their safe disposal after use,* represent a highly successful human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention intervention. SSPs are associated with a 58% reduction in the incidence of HIV infection among persons who inject drugs. In addition, SSPs have led efforts to prevent opioid overdose deaths by integrating evidence-based opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs. OEND programs train laypersons to respond during overdose events and provide access to naloxone and directions for drug delivery. SSPs are ideal places for OEND because they provide culturally relevant services designed to reach persons at high risk for experiencing or observing an opioid overdose.
Posted 6/26/2020 (updated 3/28/2024)
This report provides recommendations for actions that state and local leaders can take immediately to increase evidence-based practices, decrease arbitrary determinations, and prevent overdose deaths. The report also provides concrete steps that will, in the longterm, help dismantle a siloed system of unequal access and disparities and move towards an integrated system that promotes restorative justice, where people and families are treated with dignity, and where addiction is treated as a health and wellness matter rather than one of moral failing or criminality.