Opioids

May 19, 2020 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Law Enforcement, Opioids, Public Safety, Substance Misuse

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) is a federal program administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President, that provides resources to federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to coordinate activities addressing drug trafficking in more than 30 areas of the country. The Washington / Baltimore HIDTA developed ODMAP in the fall of 2016 and launched it as a pilot program in West Virginia and Maryland in January 2017. ODMAP is a mapping application tied to a database containing overdose incident information. W/B HIDTA provides no cost access to ODMAP to federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, other licensed first responders, criminal justice personnel, emergency room and hospital personnel, and other public health entities serving the interests of public safety and public health. The primary purposes of ODMAP include: (1) to provide near real-time surveillance of known or suspected overdose incidents across the United States and its territories; and (2) to support public safety and public health efforts to collaborate and mobilize immediate responses to a sudden increase or spike in overdose incidents. This fact sheet provides basic information about ODMAP. ...

January 22, 2020 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Fact Sheets, Opioids, Substance Misuse

Medical legal partnerships (MLPs) integrate lawyers into the health care setting to assist physicians, case managers, and social workers in addressing the factors that influence a patient’s social determinates of health and reducing the treatment disparity within communities. A total of 333 health entities, including hospitals and health systems, children’s hospitals, Health Resources and Services Administration -funded health centers, and Veterans Affairs medical centers, have developed MLPs in 46 states.  When legal services are combined with medical care to address the social needs of patients, studies show that patients: (1) are admitted to the hospital less frequently; (2) are more likely to take their medications as prescribed; (3) report lower levels of stress and experience improvements in mental health; and (4) spend less money on health care services because they are going to the hospital less and investing more in preventative care. Additionally, with MLPs, clinical services are more frequently reimbursed by public or private payers due to MLPs’ assistance with health insurance access....

November 25, 2019 | Criminal Justice, Drug Courts, Opioids, Reports & Studies

The NJOTF was created by Resolutions of the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) during their annual meeting in 2017. The Conferences recognized the need to respond to the mounting stress on criminal and family court dockets impacting state court systems across the country. Through collaboration with multiple sources inside and outside government, including experts on treatment, prevention and data, the members of the Task Force approved a comprehensive set of policy and best practice recommendations. This report is centered around these findings and recommendations. ...