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. 

What steps can communities take to incorporate health equity in overdose prevention? The following summary provides concrete examples of thoughtful approaches to applying health equity in overdose prevention at the local level to address rising rates of overdose. Case studies were drawn from overdose prevention coalitions participating in the California Overdose Prevention Network (COPN) Accelerator 4.0 Program. These can serve as models for other coalitions and organizations across the country.

A Division for Advancing Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) supports the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program by operationalizing the National HIDTA Prevention Strategy. ADAPT and HIDTA has created curriculum for implementing and evaluating substance use prevention practices within communities and has created videos to assist communities with keeping up to date with advances in prevention science. Their video library has s variety of trainings and technical webinars to cultivate, nurture, and support implementation of their prevention programming and curriculum.

The National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program has developed the Prevention Intervention Resource Center (PIRC). PIRC serves as a repository for publicly available resources for HIDTA communities to advance their evidence-based prevention programming. They have free curriculum available that includes: Sharing Substance-Related Information with Youth 11-18: Integrating the Best Available Evidence to Prevent Unintended Harm, Developing a Communications Plan, Developing Messaging Messaging through Mass Media, and so much more. 

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.

Using data from The Fentalog Study, this dashboard provides estimates of substances detected in samples from patients experiencing a suspected opioid-involved overdose. These data can be used in combination with nonfatal drug overdose data from the CDC’s Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) system to improve understanding of drug use patterns in nonfatal overdoses.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC) is a multicenter toxicosurveillance and research network. As a toxicosurveillance network, ToxIC can detect new and emerging drugs of abuse, adverse effects of new medications in the post-marketing phase, and emerging toxicological threats. On their webpage you can explore their various projects like the Fentalog Project, learn more about ToxIC, and more.

In the month of October, we focus on youth substance use prevention and substance misuse prevention. 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the "Talk.They Hear You." campaign. Prevention efforts enhance protective factors and minimize risks in individuals, families, schools, communities, and society at large. Extensive research and community-based experiences over the years affirm the effectiveness of prevention strategies, see the toolkit for more information, campaign materials, and more.

The Drug Policy Alliance has created a webpage overviewing information on overdose prevention centers including information on what they do, how they work, and have handouts and a short video to learn more.

The National Council for Mental Wellbeing hosted a technical experts’ panel (TEP) to identify best and promising practices to engage individuals surviving overdose and assist individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) presenting in emergency department (ED) settings. This report identifies key policy and practice recommendations informed by existing research, case examples and findings from the TEP.

To better understand the training and education needs of public safety personnel related to preventing overdose in BIPOC communities, and to inform the development of future trainings, the National Council, with the support of the CDC, conducted an environmental scan that included a literature review and a series of key informant interviews and roundtables. The key findings from these activities are explained in this guide.

This resource guide created by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing (National Council) aims to help harm reduction organizations, SUD treatment providers and other organizations that serve PWUD overcome challenges associated with implementing telehealth and technology-assisted services and leverage these advances to help improve the health and wellness of PWUD.

The National Council for Mental Wellbeing (National Council) created this guide with the purpose of equipping providers with substance use prevention messaging and share guidance on how to effectively deploy this messaging with middle and high school age youth.

The American Psychiatric Association’s website provides a succinct overview of substance use disorder (SUD), how its treated, the 13 priniciples of treatment, how to support a family member or friend, and related conditions.

CDPH has compiled a webpage with resources for young adults (ages 18–25) who may use drugs. The resources explain and understand substance misuse, substance use disorder, how to talk to friends who may be struggling with substance misuse, and how to get help.

The toolkit provides evidence-informed guidance for creating, delivering, and disseminating messages to prevent onset or escalation of substance use in youth aged 12-18 and build community support and readiness for substance use prevention.

Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Third Horizon Strategies (THS) launched the Opioid Abatement Needs and Investment (OANI) tool. This interactive resource, developed with support from the Elevance Health Foundation, aims to assist local, municipal and state level leaders working to address the opioid epidemic in their communities. The tool provides geographic-specific information on the potential need for opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment and recovery services and the locality’s capacity to meet that demand. The 1.0 version of the tool uses publicly available data at the county and state level and enables users to investigate a county’s potential need for OUD treatment and recovery capacity across the Healthy People 2030 Social Determinant of Health Domains.

This brief from 2022 provides information on substance use and suicide risk among LGBTQ youth and provides recommendations based on the data on how to support LGBTQ youth.

According to the Recovery Research Institute, it is estimated that 30 percent of LGBTQ+ individuals face some form of addiction, compared with 9 percent of the general population. However, there is a lack of LGBTQ+ recovery resources. Faces & Voices of Recovery have created a list of LBGTQ+ focused recovery resources.