Policymakers

Policymakers

Why does policy matter?

The development of effective policies at the local, state and federal level are just one to tool to assist opioid treatment providers in planning for emergencies. Effective policies should cover a wide variety of areas including public health, emergency management, mutual aid, behavioral health, access, coverage and should be developed with stakeholders and experts in each of these areas.

At its core, opioid preparedness policies should aim to improve communities’ infrastructure for prevention and mitigation, through the use of cross-sector data to assist all service providers and policy makers in further decision making.




Resources

Drug Policy Alliance

Join the Drug Policy Alliance in their efforts to advance those policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies.

North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition

NCHRC is dedicated to the implementation of harm reduction interventions, public health strategies, drug policy transformation, and justice reform in North Carolina and throughout the American South.

Public Health Emergency

These resources can help individuals, families, and communities prepare, respond and recover.

Naloxone Overdose Prevention Laws

This dataset focuses on state laws that provide civil or criminal immunity to licensed healthcare providers or lay responders for opioid antagonist administration.

Rapid Growth in Medicaid Spending on Medications to Treat Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose

Download the state-by-state data of total Medicaid spending on Buprenorphine, Naltrexone and Naloxone Prescriptions for Opioid Use Disorder.

Disaster preparedness among opioid treatment programs: Policy recommendations from state opioid treatment authorities

Abstract and access to the journal article on disaster preparedness.

Partnerships, tools, and tabletop exercise tackle preparedness, continuity of opioid treatment programs during a disaster

The effort involved 14 months of quarterly stakeholder workgroup meetings, a multisector tabletop exercise, clarified roles, and formalized agreement on how to dispense medication during disasters. Read more...

American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD)

AATOD's mission is to enhance the quality of patient care in treatment programs by promoting the growth and development of comprehensive opioid treatment services throughout the United States.

The Policy Surveillance Program - A LawAtlas Project

The Policy Surveillance Program, housed at Temple’s Beasley School of Law, developed a clearinghouse of state syringe distribution laws. This page identifies national trends and ways in which individual states allow access to sterile syringes.