Drug Enforcement Administration

As announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in January 2023, clinicians no longer need a federal waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder.  Clinicians will still be required to register with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to prescribe controlled medications. On June 27, the DEA began to require that registration applicants – both new and renewing – affirm they have completed a new, one-time, eight-hour training.

The next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is on April 22, 2023. If you have unused or expired prescription medications, you can locate a safe and convenient disposal drop off location using the U.S Drug Enforcement Association's (DEA) website. The DEA aims to help the public remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced proposed rules for the prescribing of controlled medications via telemedicine beyond the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. One rule addresses the expansion of induction of buprenorphine via telemedicine encounter while the other covers telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances when the practitioner and the patient have not had a prior in-person medical evaluation. While opioid use disorders occur at similar rates in both rural and urban areas, medication assisted treatment (MAT) prescribers have been disproportionately located in urban areas. The public will be able to comment on the proposed rules until March 31st. 

Use the search engine above maintained by the DEA to find permanent drug disposal locations.

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.

Non-fatal opioid overdose (NFOO) is a significant cause of opioid-related morbidity in the United States. As the number of NFOOs continues to grow, it is important to understand the short- and long-term consequences of NFOO. This report examines the existing literature on the acute and chronic health and functional outcomes of individuals who experience NFOO, and also identifies differences in outcomes for NFOOs involving illicitly-manufactured fentanyl.