Controlled Substances

October 30, 2023 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Treatments

This fact sheet summarizes a recent increase in the use of contingency management, a behavioral therapy that reinforces or rewards positive behavioral change. Often, mental health professionals use contingency management alongside other methods of treatment. In the context of substance use disorder treatment, patients typically receive something of monetary value to incentivize abstinence from drug use. Contingency management is a well-studied and effective method for treating substance use disorder, but until recently, received little support....

September 18, 2023 | Fact Sheets, Novel Psychoactive Substances, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

The Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) continues to monitor the emergence of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) appearing on the illicit drug market in the United States. The term “novel” does not denote a brand new, never-before-seen substance but rather a substance that is newly available in the drug market. This fact sheet, the fifth in a series highlighting these dangerous drugs, is an examination of nitazenes....

August 4, 2023 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Opioids, Recovery, Reports & Studies, Substance Misuse, Treatments

This report from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, details guidelines that local government officials, jail administrators, correctional officers, and health care professionals can use in providing effective health care for adults who are sentenced or awaiting sentencing to jail, awaiting court action on a current charge, or being held in custody for other reasons....

June 6, 2023 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Substance Misuse

This fact sheet addresses the growing misuse of ketamine, an anesthetic used medically in both humans and animals as a short-acting painkiller. Ketamine can produce dissociative sensations, feelings of euphoria, and hallucinations, and it is popular as a “club drug” among teens and young adults at dance clubs and raves. Most of the ketamine illicitly distributed in the U.S. is either diverted or stolen from legitimate sources, particularly veterinary clinics, or smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico....

June 6, 2023 | Fact Sheets, Novel Psychoactive Substances, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

The Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) is monitoring the emergence of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) appearing on the illicit drug market in the United States. The term “novel” does not denote a new, never-before-seen substance but rather a substance that is newly available in the drug market. This fact sheet, the fourth in a series highlighting these potentially dangerous drugs, examines isotonitazene, a synthetic opioid recently classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act....

June 6, 2023 | Opioids, Public Health, Reports & Studies, Substance Misuse

The content of this blog post is part of the USC-Brookings Institute Schaeffer initiative for Health Policy, a partnership between Economic Studies at Brookings and the University of Southern California Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. Researchers concluded that effects of the opioid epidemic in the United States have been far-reaching, not just in terms of  health impacts, but also as far as implications for the U.S. economy....

May 3, 2023 | Controlled Substances, Harm Reduction, K-12 Education, Model Laws, Public Health, Public Safety

Developed in collaboration with the Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, the Model School Response to Drugs and Drug-related Incidents Act guides states in establishing a consistent and positive response for public schools to best support students who have drug or drug-related incidents on school premises or at school-related functions....

April 24, 2023 | Alcohol, Controlled Substances, Fentanyl, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Public Health, Reports & Studies, Stimulants, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

The purpose of this report was to assess immediate and sustained changes in overall illicit substance ingestion rates among children younger than six before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine changes by substance type, including amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, ethanol, and, opioids. Researchers concluded that there was a sustained increase in illicit substance ingestion during the pandemic and that additional studies are needed to contextualize these findings in the setting of pandemic-related stress....