This is an academic paper that provides commentary on the initiative in Burlington, Vermont to decriminalize the possession of buprenorphine, written by a state attorney and the chief of police, and the plan to initiate the same legal approach in Philadelphia. Burlington had a 50% decrease in overdose deaths from 2017 to 2018, which appears to have been sustained in 2019, partly attributable to this initiative as part of a multi-pronged approach.

This initiative shows promise in reducing stigma, expanding access to a life-saving medication, and no longer criminalizing a person struggling with opioid use disorder who possesses an effective means to treat this condition. 

This is an academic paper that summarizes the cascade of care model for opioid use disorder (OUD) and applies it to Rhode Island. The touchpoints for this model include identifying those at risk for OUD, diagnosed with OUD, initiated in OUD treatment, retained in OUD treatment, and in recovery from OUD. This can be a helpful health policy tool to identify systems-level gaps and opportunities.

This is a collection of reports from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing that provides resources to support the adoption and implementation of deflection and pre-arrest programs (DPAP) to better support people at risk of opioid overdose. Successful initiatives across the United States are highlighted. There is a focus on implementing a harm reduction approach, integrating peer services, and  DPAP in rural communities. 

This is an issue brief, made possible by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, that highlights key features of approved health home models in Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont that are tailored to individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD).

The document identifies important considerations in developing OUD-focused health homes, including: (1) leveraging opioid treatment program requirements; (2) promoting collaboration across multiple state agencies; (3) supporting providers in transforming into health homes; and (4) encouraging information sharing.

This is an academic paper that presents a deterministic understanding of the choice model of addiction that has the potential to mitigate blame for addictive behavior, thereby reducing stigma.  

This is an academic paper that provides an overview of the current state of joint criminal justice and healthcare interventions to address the opioid crisis that have been evaluated in the peer-reviewed literature. Few programs were found although they were found to be effective, highlighting the need for evaluating existing collaborative programs and the creation of new ones. 

This is an academic paper that evaluates an intervention to deliver buprenorphine treatment in harm reduction organizations in New York City to those that are not seeking treatment. Although the study design was not rigorous, findings include increased organizational education on buprenorphine but no increase in initiation of buprenorphine, suggesting that more active outreach is necessary.  

This academic paper addresses the fact that many currently employed interventions (prescriber guidelines, prescription monitoring programs, naloxone rescue) address the prevention of OUD or downstream complications but not treatment of the underlying disorder itself.

An OUD Cascade of Care framework could help structure local and national efforts to combat the opioid crisis by identifying key targets, interventions, and quality indicators across populations and settings to achieve these ends. Improved data collection and reporting methodology will be imperative.

This database from the CDC allows users to examine prevalence of and trends in nonfatal overdoses for 47 states and the District of Columbia beginning in 2018. 

This resource is an Interactive Mapping Tool which gives an overview of nonfatal drug overdoses in the United States organized by state. This dashboard represents the most up-to-date data in terms of emergency department visit trends and is updated monthly. 

This is a report from the Drug Policy Alliance that gives a history and overview of decriminalization of drug use in Portugal, its effects on treatment and harm reduction, and the impact on health outcomes and the criminal justice system. 

This issue brief describes the increasing incidence of deaths in local jails, often by suicide in the days immediately after arrest, and analyzes the underlying causes such as untreated substance use and mental health disorders. It recommends strategies to reduce these deaths, including better screening for suicide risk and mental health problems, pre-jail diversion into appropriate treatment, and greater access to treatment while incarcerated.