Controlled Substances

April 19, 2021 | Controlled Substances, First Responders, Naloxone, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Public Health, Public Safety, Reports & Studies

In recent years, some states have enacted Good Samaritan and Naloxone Access laws to help reduce overdose deaths and respond to opioid overdoses.The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 included a provision for GAO to review these laws. This report addresses the following: (1) the efforts ONDCP has taken to collect and disseminate information on Good Samaritan and Naloxone Access laws, (2) the extent to which states, territories, and D.C. have these laws and the characteristics of them, and (3) what research indicates concerning the effects of Good Samaritan laws.To answer these questions, GAO collected and reviewed ONDCP documents and interviewed agency officials. GAO also reviewed and analyzed selected characteristics of jurisdictions' Good Samaritan and Naloxone Access laws. Further, GAO conducted a literature review of empirical studies published from 2010 through May 2020 that examined the effects of Good Samaritan laws....

February 11, 2021 | Controlled Substances, Health Data, Model Laws, Public Health, Public Safety

Overdose fatality review (OFR) is a powerful tool that can be used to identify and respond to community-specific patterns related to drug overdose deaths. LAPPA’s Model Overdose Fatality Review Teams Act was written in consultation with a host of subject matter experts and creates a legislative framework for establishing county-level, multidisciplinary OFR teams in individual states. While overdose deaths occur nationally, OFRs established at the local level allow for the identification of challenges unique to a local area. This Model Act addresses the duties, responsibilities, and composition of OFR teams in order for them to properly examine and understand the circumstances leading up to a fatal overdose....

August 27, 2020 | Controlled Substances, Innovative Initiatives, Public Health, Public Safety, Recovery, Substance Misuse

The CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets) mobile crisis intervention program responds to non-police emergencies in the cities of Eugene and Springfield, Oregon. CAHOOTS teams are staffed by a medic and a mental health crisis worker, and receive over 500 hours of training, which includes education on de-escalation and crisis intervention. ...

August 26, 2020 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Public Safety, Reports & Studies, Substance Misuse

The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released statistical briefs on selected policies and procedures of local police departments and sheriffs’ offices, based on data from BJS’s 2016 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey. The tables show national estimates and distributions by population served on topics such as average hours of officer training by type of training, written community-policing plans, annual operating budgets, written directives for officer conduct, written documentation for officers’ display or discharge of firearms, authorized less-lethal techniques and restraints, and requirements for external investigations of deaths or use of force....