Opioid

This spreadsheet details states’ publicly reported, opioid settlement-related state-subdivision agreements, statutory trusts, and allocation statutes. It was completed with assistance from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Principles for the Use of Funds From the Opioid Litigation).

This TIP reviews three Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for opioid use disorder treatment—methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine—and the other strategies and services needed to support people in recovery.

Drug overdose is a nationwide epidemic that claimed the lives of over 100,000 people in the United States in the past year.   Opioids, either alone or in combination with other drugs or alcohol, were responsible for approximately 70 percent of these deaths. Many of those 70,000 people would be alive today if they had been administered the opioid antagonist naloxone and, where needed, other emergency care. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is in the process of updating the 2016 guidelines and values feedback from health care professionals and members of the public who experience acute or chronic pain. 

Almost two-thirds of people currently incarcerated in the U.S. have a substance use disorder. Many struggle with opioid addiction. Opioids include prescription pain relievers, heroin, and powerful synthetic versions such as fentanyl that are driving record numbers of overdose deaths. Men in a rural jail who received medication to treat opioid use disorder had a reduced likelihood of being arrested or returning to jail or prison after release. The results need to be replicated in larger, more diverse populations, but they suggest the promise of drug treatment in helping to reduce reincarceration.

Description of how States are Preparing for Opioid Settlement Funds

Apply now to HRSA’s Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) program to receive funding for training doctoral health psychology students, interns, and post-doctoral residents in behavioral health and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services. Through the GPE program, HRSA aims to prepare and increase the mental and behavioral health workforce to address the opioid crisis in high-need areas of the country. The program also supports faculty development of health service psychology. Learn more about eligibility, funding, and the period of performance on HRSA’s GPE Program page.

Justice-involved populations are disproportionately affected by the opioid and overdose crisis. In fact, people who have been incarcerated are roughly 129 times more likely to experience a fatal overdose in the first two weeks after their release compared to the general public due to reduced tolerance during incarceration.1 Despite the fact that evidence-based medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is the standard of care in the community, and has been proven to reduce risk of overdose and mortality, it remains widely unavailable in most correctional facilities. However, that is slowly changing. Correctional staff, medical professionals, incarcerated individuals and politicians are beginning to advocate for MOUD. JPOP aims to address the need for accessible information about medication-based treatment for opioid use disorder in the criminal legal system. We encourage you to engage with the resources and tools and links on this website to help to improve treatment for opioid use disorder in your community

Background As the opioid overdose crisis persists and take-home naloxone (THN) programmes expand, it is important that the intervention is targeted towards those most likely to use it. We examined THN program participants to 1) describe those that return for refills, specifically those that reported multiple use (supersavers) and 2) to determine what rescuer characteristics were associated with higher rates of THN use. Methods This study included a cohort of consenting THN recipients from June 2014- June 2021 who completed initial and refill questionnaires from a widespread program in Norway. Adjusted logistic regression was used to explore associations with higher rates of THN use. ‘Super-savers’ reported three or more THN uses.