Policymakers & Community Leaders

Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative

Source: Strength Over Stigma (SOS) Recovery Community Organization

New Hampshire’s Strength Over Stigma (SOS) Recovery Community Organization is one of the non-profit entities in New Hampshire given state grant funding to help businesses create recovery friendly workplace programs.

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Policymakers & Community Leaders

Syringe Distribution Programs Can Improve Public Health During the Opioid Overdose Crisis

Source: Pew Charitable Trusts

This issue brief explores syringe services programs (SSPs) and how they can improve public health. The paper describes the benefits of SSPs such as reduced rates of HIV and hepatitis C infections among people who use drugs, increases in SSP participants engagement in substance use disorder treatment, and the lack of relationship between SSP programs and increased criminal activity.

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Policymakers & Community Leaders
Patients & Caregivers

Civil Legal Aid Helps Those Affected by the Opioid Crisis

Evidence Ranking: Promising

Source: The Justice in Government Project and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association

This 3 page briefing paper discusses the role legal aid services can play in helping address the impact of the opioid crisis on individuals, families, and communities.

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Policymakers & Community Leaders
Payers & Providers
Patients & Caregivers

The Opioid Crisis and the Hispanic/Latino Population: An Urgent Issue

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

This report details how the opioid crisis has affected the Hispanic/Latino population in the US. It includes data on opioid use in this community and a discussion of the socio-cultural factors associated with accessing services including facilitators and barriers to accessing appropriate prevention, treatment, and recovery services and supports.

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Policymakers & Community Leaders
Payers & Providers
Patients & Caregivers

New Mexico Statewide Standing Order for Registered Pharmacist Naloxone

Source: New Mexico Department of Health

The New Mexico statewide standing order authorizes registered pharmacists in the state to dispense naloxone to any person who uses an opioid, regardless of how the opioid is used or obtained, or to any person in a position to assist a person at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose.

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Policymakers & Community Leaders
Payers & Providers
Patients & Caregivers

Federal Grantees May Now Use Funds to Purchase Fentanyl Test Strips

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that federal funding may be used to purchase rapid fentanyl test strips (FTS). FTS can be used to determine if drugs have been cut or mixed with fentanyl which greatly increases the risk of overdose death.

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Policymakers & Community Leaders
Payers & Providers
Patients & Caregivers

Approval of Higher Dosage of Naloxone Nasal Spray to Treat Opioid Overdose

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

In April 2021, the FDA announced approval of an application for a produce to deliver an 8 milligram (mg) dose of naloxone; previous approvals had been granted for products delivering 2 mg and 4 mg of naloxone. The approval was granted to provide an additional option for the treatment of opioid overdose.

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Policymakers & Community Leaders

Fact Sheet: Infectious Disease Elimination Act of Florida

Source: Florida Department of Health

This 2 page fact sheet explains the state of Florida’s Infectious Disease Elimination Act (IDEA), which allowed counties in the state to establish syringe exchange programs for people who use drugs. The resource describes the problem IDEA is intended to solve, explains the legislation, and describes the benefits of syringe exchange programs.

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