People Who Use Drugs

Immediately after experiencing a non-fatal overdose, many people who inject drugs (PWID) engage in harm-minimizing behavior change, including engagement in drug treatment. To inform the implementation of tailored interventions designed to facilitate drug treatment engagement in rural communities, we sought to identify correlates of starting any form of drug treatment after their most recent overdose among PWID who reside in a rural county in West Virginia.

This webinar will provide an overview of COVID-19 impacts and vaccination attitudes among SUD populations in Vermont including people who use drugs, patients receiving MAT, and people in recovery. It will outline the methods undertaken to conduct a community-based survey. It will discuss the barriers and opportunities that arose from analysis of the survey and a subsequent consortium workshop.

Stimulants 2021: An Update—Clinical Issues and Treatments The presenter will review considerations in engaging and treating individuals with stimulant use disorders and present evidence-based treatment strategies relevant to rural communities addressing this growing problem.

Integrating Health Promotion for People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) Into Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Services The workshop will present strategies to integrate HIV, hepatitis, and sexual health concerns into services for PWID. The session will focus on communication skills, assessment techniques, and building motivation among PWID to make healthier choices. The presenter will look at programmatic and clinical-level integration strategies and offer participants an opportunity to assess current service delivery models and develop a plan to enhance care.

The 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) is a comprehensive assessment of the threat posed to the United States by the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs, the diversion and abuse of licit drugs, and the laundering of proceeds generated through illicit drug sales. It also addresses the role domestic groups, including organized violent gangs, serve in domestic drug trafficking. The most widely trafficked drugs are discussed in terms of their availability, consumption and overdose related deaths, production and cultivation, transportation, and distribution.

There are safe ways to dispose of syringes you find on the ground. Sharing injection drug equipment can transmit infections, but there is little risk to someone who is accidentally poked or scratched by a discarded syringe. Below you'll find information on how to pick them up, where to drop them off, and ways to get involved in cleaning up your neighborhood.

The current study examined the accuracy of sensory discernment strategies by measuring study participants’ descriptions of the last opioid injected and checked with a fentanyl test strip (FTS) by that test's positive/negative result. The primary objective was to determine associations between FTS results and descriptions of the illi it opioid's physical appearance and physiological effects.

People who use drugs (PWUD) in the U.S. experience disproportionate adverse health outcomes and mortality as compared with the population as a whole (Lake & Kennedy, 2016; Reisinger, Pratt, Shoenborn, & Druss, 2017). Similar health outcomes have been reported elsewhere, for example in the UK (Neale, 2004), and across 8 other European countries (Bargagli et al., 2006). In the U.S. health outcomes among PWUD are intensified by the overdose pandemic, epidemic rates of HIV, hepatitis A and C, skin and soft tissue infections (CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020; Hagen, Thiede, & Des Jarlais, 2005; Scholl, Seth, Kariisa, Wilson, & Baldwin, 2019), and by structural barriers thwarting health access and utilization.

This handbook is for anyone looking for help or information, and for people who care about them, who may be: Misusing prescription pain medications, using narcotics, heroin, or other opioid drugs; thinking about seeking help for an opioid problem; or Considering medications that help with recovery from opioid use disorder.