This is an academic paper that examines the social roots of the opioid crisis, creating a social determinants of health framework to better understand opioid-related harms across the drug-use continuum. Findings suggest that policymakers and public health leaders should develop partnerships with people who use drugs, incorporate harm reduction strategies, and reverse drug criminalization policies. 

This is an academic paper that gives an overview of studies that have examined the association between socioeconomic characteristics and opioid-related overdose deaths. Nearly all reviewed studies found a connection between a socioeconomic variable and overdose, supporting the Deaths of Despair hypothesis. 

This is a toolkit from the Harm Reduction Coalition targeted towards faith-based organizations to give an overview of what harm reduction is, why it fits in with the mission of faith organizations, and how to serve people who use drugs. The toolkit contains many resources and guidance on how to implement harm reduction services. 

This is a toolkit from the American Medical Association and Manatt Health that provides actionable resources that states can use to take specific actions in policy areas of non-opioid approaches to pain patients, access to evidence-based and comprehensive treatment, and harm reduction. 

This is a report from the Mental Health Commission of Canada that summarizes an 18-month project on opioid use disorder (OUD) stigma and gives a scoping literature review as well as the results of key informant interviews and focus groups involving first responders, persons with lived experience of substance and/or opioid use, policymakers, and other service providers. 

This study develops a typology of the stigma related to opioid use, showing how multiple dimensions of stigma continue to fundamentally hinder the response to the crisis.

The paper explains how public stigma is driven by stereotypes about people with opioid use disorders, such as their perceived dangerousness or perceived moral failings, which translate into negative attitudes toward people with opioid use disorders. Additionally, it explains that enacted stigma describes the behavioral manifestations of public stigma, including discrimination and social distancing. Finally, the study emphasizes that public and enacted stigma, in turn, lead to the delivery of suboptimal care and undermine access to treatment and harm reduction services.

This in an annual summit sponsored by National Academy of Medicine and Shatterproof that brings together stakeholders to discuss the negative impact of stigma on people with substance use disorders and elevate action-oriented strategies to address and eliminate the harms caused by stigma. More information from the 2021 summit can be found here and the 2022 summit can be found here. 

This is an academic paper that provides a commentary on the role that stigma plays in substance use disorder, how it manifests, and the evidence base for combating it. 

This report, put together by the Toronto Drug Strategy, presents the results of focus groups for people who use alcohol and other drugs and their experiences of stigma and discrimination. Additionally, recommendations for action are made for the development of strategies to address stigma and discrimination toward this population.

The Rockefeller Institute's Stories from Sullivan series combines aggregate data analysis with on-the-ground research in affected communities to provide insight into what the opioid problem looks like in this rural county, how the community has responded, and what kinds of policies have the best chances of making a difference. 

This paper describes the strategies and policies implemented in Ohio to improve opioid safety and discusses the role that pharmacists can play in implementing, promoting, and enhancing the effectiveness of these policies. In particular, the Governor's Cabinet Opiate Action Team is discussed, which created and implemented a multifaceted strategy which significant reduced opioid prescribing the state. 

This is a report from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness that identifies strategies communities, providers, and policymakers can use to address the intersection of homelessness and the opioid crisis and highlights several helpful resources developed by federal and national partners to support such efforts.