This is a report from the American Medical Association which gives an overview on actions that the medical community has taken in combating the opioid epidemic, as well as data surrounding its impacts. The report also gives recommendations on further steps the medical community can take to…

This academic paper discusses a model of treating patients with substance use disorder (SUD) who are hospitalized. The authors performed a needs assessment and then convened academic and community partners, including a hospital, community SUD organizations, and Medicaid accountable care…

This is a report from the Open Society Foundation for law enforcement personnel on how to incorporate, support, and create space for approaches that aim to increase public safety and health, reduce harm to people who use drugs, and provide law enforcement alternatives to common punitive models…

This is a report from the Pew Institute that highlights the barriers to expanding access to buprenorphine and makes recommendations to state policymakers to overcome these barriers with a focus on increasing access and affordability, increasing retention in treatment, and addressing social…

This study sought to understand important changes in co-occurring opioid and nonopioid drug use (i.e., polysubstance use) within the opioid crisis in the United States. Past-month use of at least 1 nonopioid drug occurred in nearly all participants (> 90%) in this study.

This paper…

These are new guidelines issued by Health and Human Services that gives an exemption from certain statutory certification requirements for prescribing buprenorphine among physicians and non-physicians, thus relaxing waiver requirements and  increasing access to buprenorphine. 

This is an academic paper which compares the impact of different overdose prevention site locations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The authors did this comparison through the use of a mathematical model that predicts the behavior and demographic information of users. This paper also highlights…

This is an academic paper that gives an overview of the literature on prescriber education interventions to reduce opioid use and optimize prescribing in acute settings, such as primary care, surgical, and emergency department settings.

This is an academic paper that gives an overview of best practices for buprenorphine dosing, follow-up care, and reducing implementation barriers in the emergency department. Different models are discussed, such as "hub and spoke" and "warm handoff" models. 

This report, written by researchers from the Institute for Behavioral Health, Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in collaboration with The Pew Charitable Trusts, describes eight evidence-based practices aimed at increasing prescriber utilization of prescription…

This study surveyed US adults about the prevalence of alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems, whether they were resolved, and if so by what means, including assisted (treatment, medication) and unassisted resolution pathways.

The paper found that tens of millions of Americans have…

This is a report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction that provides both practitioners and policymakers with an analysis of the current evidence base on take-home naloxone. Specific programs and initiatives in Europe are highlighted in this document. 

This is a rural health policy brief from the CDC, as a companion to its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report article Illicit Drug Use, Illicit Drug Use Disorders, and Drug Overdose Deaths in Metropolitan and Non-…

This is a presentation from the National Latino Behavioral Health Association (author Mancini) that describes the scope of the opioid crisis in Hispanic/Latinx communities, discusses contextual barriers to service in this population, and makes actionable solutions and policy recommendations. A…

This study projected the effect of lowering incident nonmedical prescription opioid use on the future trajectory of the opioid overdose crisis in the United States. In this paper, the prevention of prescription opioid misuse alone is projected to have a modest effect on lowering opioid overdose…

This is a report published by the Native Center for Behavioral Health and is supported by SAMHSA. It summarizes how Native American communities in several states implemented medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder initiatives while maintaining their culturally informed practices.…

This is a report for primary care providers on what they can do to address the opioid crisis and what treatment options are available depending on the patient’s willingness to engage in treatment. It also summarizes literature on SBIRT and opioid use disorder (OUD) and, more generally, substance…

This is a paper that reviews many of the different program models that have integrated medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) with primary care. There is a table that provides a good overview of practice-based and systems-based models along with linkages in both the academic and gray…

This is a report from the Well Being Trust that predicts, across nine different scenarios, additional deaths of despair range from 27,644 (quick recovery) to 154,037 (slow recovery), with somewhere in the middle being around 68,000. 

This is an academic paper that uses a simulated model to predict the impact of different interventions to reduce opioid-related mortality. No single intervention had a substantial impact, but combining interventions that increase capacity for treatment with medications for opioid use disorder,…