Drug overdoses have affected all communities across the United States. Yet there are notable racial and ethnic disparities that have emerged over the past 25 years, even though people of all races and ethnicities use drugs at similar rates. Racism, lack of access to treatment and services, targeted drug enforcement, and stigma are some of the most common factors contributing to these tragic losses in our communities. DPA has developed three new fact sheets that describe overdose death trends among Black, Latinx, and Native American communities. They also provide policy recommendations and strategies for how our elected officials can save lives. 

Drug overdoses have affected all communities across the United States. Yet there are notable racial and ethnic disparities that have emerged over the past 25 years, even though people of all races and ethnicities use drugs at similar rates. Racism, lack of access to treatment and services, targeted drug enforcement, and stigma are some of the most common factors contributing to these tragic losses in our communities. DPA has developed three new fact sheets that describe overdose death trends among Black, Latinx, and Native American communities. They also provide policy recommendations and strategies for how our elected officials can save lives. 

Drug overdoses have affected all communities across the United States. Yet there are notable racial and ethnic disparities that have emerged over the past 25 years, even though people of all races and ethnicities use drugs at similar rates. Racism, lack of access to treatment and services, targeted drug enforcement, and stigma are some of the most common factors contributing to these tragic losses in our communities. DPA has developed three new fact sheets that describe overdose death trends among Black, Latinx, and Native American communities. They also provide policy recommendations and strategies for how our elected officials can save lives. 

ChangeLab Solutions has developed guides that offer a range of evidence-based policy strategies and a roadmap to policy implementation that can advance equity and prioritize care over punishment for people who use drugs. The strategies are intended to support state and local decision makers, government agency staff, public health practitioners, and community members in considering policies to prevent overdose and reduce other drug-related harm in their communities.

The following document summarizes recent policies in California aimed at overdose prevention, substance use disorders (SUD), and mental health based on a presentation by Riana King, Principal Consultant with the California Assembly Committee on Health, during the Summer 2024 COPN Convening. The legislative policies are categorized into four main areas: Funding Capacity, Treatment & Access, Harm Reduction & Prevention, and Oversight & Accountability.

Explore ASTHO’s Public Health Legal Mapping Center, which utilizes interactive tools to analyze state laws on overdose prevention and public health infrastructure, tracking changes and trends over time.

The Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association developed the 2023 State of the State, which guides state leaders on the most effective approaches to addressing the opioid and other drug epidemic by identifying 10 evidence-based policy approaches to reduce overdoses. Each of the 10 strategies outlined in the Roadmap points to a specific type of policy that states can implement to reduce overdose deaths and increase access to substance use treatment.

During the Fall 2023 COPN Convening that focused on advancing youth overdose prevention, treatment and harm reduction in California, COPN Impact Coach Mary Maddux-Gonzalez reviewed recent policies (2023) that had been passed related to youth overdose prevention and treatment. This handout provides more information on the recent policies that have initiatives that emphasize naloxone accessibility, on-campus treatment, conservatorship updates, and fentanyl detection measures.

This brief helps collaborative teams formally assess existing policies to determine whether, and to what extent, they contribute to disproportionate and disparate outcomes for the families being served.

In this podcast episode, the Drug Policy Alliance’s Maritza Perez speaks with FRS expert and criminal defense attorney Patricia Richman to explain more about what classwide drug scheduling means, and why we are fighting against it.

The CDC offers policies, programs, and practices that address the conditions of work that should be considered to protect workers and advance their health and well-being related to opioid exposure, use, and potential misuse.

Read through this brief to learn more about MAT in within the criminal justice system.

California Family Code 6929 describes minor consent to drug services, and part (b) states that minors age 12+ may consent to diagnosis and treatment of drug/alcohol problems. Certainly doesn’t scream “give minors FTS and naloxone” but most law is parsimonious rather than narrowly prescriptive, and this is the legal basis we all use for youth overdose prevention services generally.

The Health and Safety Code, HSC 121349.1, allows the California Department of Public Health and local health departments to exempt SSPs from designated ‘paraphernalia’.

The California Health and Safety Code 11014.5 defines ‘drug paraphernalia’.

This assembly bill clarifies that fentanyl test strips are legal to distribute and possess in California.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that federal funding may now be used to purchase rapid fentanyl test strips (FTS) in an effort to help curb the dramatic spike in drug overdose deaths largely driven by the use of strong synthetic opioids, including illicitly manufactured fentanyl.

The Biden administration is embracing harm reduction, which seeks to keep drug users safe even as they continue using. In this episode, Tradeoffs explores how harm reduction has become more mainstream and what kind of impact we can expect it to have on the overdose crisis.

HHS has released a report detailing trends of telehealth use in 2021, and how to make telehealth more accessible and equitable in the future.

In these videos, Congress was engaged in discussions on the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and substance use and the need for Mental Health First Aid, among other important topics.