The Monterey County Prescribe Safe Initiative is an organization that wants to help physicians with safe prescribing. Read through some of the solutions that have been working in Monterey County.

Patients with pain should receive treatment that provides the greatest benefit. Opioids are not the first-line therapy for chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. Evidence suggests that nonopioid treatments, including nonopioid medications and nonpharmacological therapies, can provide relief to those suffering from chronic pain, and are safer. Read through this fact sheet to get a better understanding of how to effectively approach non-opioid solutions to chronic pain.

Health plans can influence the behavior of providers and patients, prevent overprescribing, ensure appropriate treatment is available — and save lives. Use this four part guide to change the way in which the epidemic is impacting your community.

MAT has been proven to save lives, improve quality of life, and lower medical costs, but remains inaccessible to almost 90% of the people it could help. This paper outlines concrete strategies that public and private plans can implement in their efforts to ensure that their members have access to MAT when and where they need it.

Safe Med LA, the opioid coalition for LA county created a 10-page recommendation on safe prescribing, broken down into six main focus areas: (1) Safe Opioid Prescribing; (2) Avoid Escalating Opioid Doses; (3) Avoid Dangerous Medication Combinations ; (4) Safe Tapering Practices; (5) Concurrent Drug and Alcohol Use; (6) Opioid Use Disorder and Medications for Addiction Treatment. Use this recommendation in conjunction with the Safe Opioid Prescribing Recommendations Template to customize the guidelines for your own communities and prescribers.

As the epidemic evolves, clinicians are prescribing fewer opioids. However, the demand for synthetic opioids including heroin and fentanyl are on the rise. What can we do? This infographic will go through six elements of lowering the demand of opioids, along with a case example.

This guideline provides recommendations for primary care clinicians who are prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.

An inclusive resource sheet with various tools for prescribers.

Opioids can be safe when carefully prescribed and monitored by a clinician, but they are not generally effective in treating long-term chronic pain and they have the potential to become addictive and misused. Prescribing guidelines are an important mechanism to align practices with evidence and safety. Use this fact sheet to learn more about safe prescribing.

This document is to assist community leaders, local and regional organizers, non-profit groups, law enforcement, public health, and members of the public in understanding and navigating effective strategies to prevent opioid overdose in their communities.

Prevention planners are pressed to put in place solutions to urgent substance misuse problems facing their communities. But research and experience have shown that prevention must begin with an understanding of these complex behavioral health problems within their complex environmental contexts; only then can communities establish and implement effective plans to address substance misuse. Read this document to understand the framework that SAMHSA has created.

We hear a lot about the opioid epidemic in the news, but not so much about how we are going to stop it. SafeRx Santa Cruz County has been working in collaboration with doctors, pharmacists, and other community members on preventative measures.

There can be a lot of pushback in communities when it comes to syringe services. This article about how pharmacies can expand over-the-counter sterile injection supplies to prevent the spread of infection, especially during COVID-19. 

Opioid prescribing in Marin has decreased 48 percent since 2014, when safe prescribing was made a local public health priority. Read this news release to learn more.

This document was originally released in 2019 as a guide to help policymakers end the opioid epidemic. This document has now been expanded to include best practices and action items regarding COVID-19 and racial inequities.

Historically, it has not been the responsibility of the sheriff s and jail administrators to be primary providers of substance use disorder treatments. But with thousands of Americans dying every week from drug overdoses and those recently released from jail among the most defenseless, the situation has changed - sheriffs have taken on the challenge.

This guide focuses on using medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in jails and prisons, and during the reentry process when justice-involved persons return to the community. It provides an overview of policies and evidence-based practices that reduce the risk of overdose and relapse.

This toolkit explains how faith communities can contribute to harm reduction efforts within their communities in order to change principles, practices, and policies.

This webpage provides tools for primary care providers to help carry out the complex task of balancing pain management with the potential risks that prescription opioids pose.