Fact Sheets

August 28, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Fact Sheets, Harm Reduction, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Opioids, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Treatments

Through the use of medications for addiction treatment (MAT), an individual’s substance use, withdrawal symptoms, and the physiological and psychological cravings can be controlled, enabling the person to begin treatment while in a correctional facility and be released as a person in, or on his or her way to, recovery. Research shows that that the use of MAT for Opioid Use Disorder in correctional settings is a cost-effective and life-saving intervention....

July 30, 2025 | Cannabidiol (CBD), Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Marijuana, Prescription Drugs, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

In this fact sheet, LAPPA examines the features of the Snapchat app that can facilitate online drug transactions, the theory and progression of a major lawsuit against Snap brought by parents of overdose victims, and other recent legal and legislative actions taken against Snap for its alleged role in online drug sales....

April 16, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Prescription Drugs, Public Safety, Substance Misuse

Drug diversion is defined as any criminal act or deviation that removes a prescription drug from its intended path from the manufacturer to the patient, and while the act of diversion can occur in a variety of settings and be committed by anyone, it is particularly likely to occur in healthcare settings by healthcare workers due to the ease in which they can access prescription drugs. Drug diversion in health care is a serious issue that can result in patient harm, financial loss to the healthcare entity, and civil and criminal litigation based on the perpetrator’s actions....

April 7, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Substance Misuse

In this fact sheet the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association details the effects of the substance ibogaine in humans, reviews its regulation on the state and federal level, and highlights research being conducted relative to renewed interest in the substance....

March 16, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Drug Courts, Fact Sheets, Harm Reduction, Peer Support and Recoery Services, Public Health, Public Safety, Recovery, Treatments

In 2014, several U.S. cities and counties filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers and distributors alleging that the companies’ aggressive marketing practices fueled a national opioid addiction epidemic that subsequently killed hundreds of thousands of people. Since then, over 3,000 state and local governments filed lawsuits of their own, seeking to recoup the billions of dollars that these entities spent—and continue to spend—on the fallout from the epidemic. The result of these legal efforts is a series of ongoing monetary settlements, greater than $56 billion to date. Payment of these settlements will last 18 years, and the decision-making authority for spending these funds differs between jurisdictions. Many have an appointed advisory board that disburses specified amounts each year for specified purposes. In this fact sheet, LAPPA details how opioid settlement proceeds are being disbursed to state and local governments, how those governments are choosing to spend those funds, and the obstacles that can prevent these funds from helping those who have been affected by the opioid epidemic....

March 5, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Insurance, Recovery, Treatments

The Medicaid Health Home State Plan Option, authorized by the Affordable Care Act in 2011, gives states the ability to create health home programs that provide comprehensive care coordination for Medicaid beneficiaries. Health home programs are required to “integrate and coordinate all primary, acute, behavioral health and long term services and supports” to treat the patient across his or her lifespan. Health home services must include all six of the following components: comprehensive case management; care coordination; health promotion; comprehensive transitional care/follow-up; patient and family support; and referral to community and social support services. This fact sheet provides an overview of Medicaid health homes, which are designed to assist beneficiaries in obtaining care for chronic conditions, including substance use disorder....

March 5, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fact Sheets, Fentanyl, Harm Reduction, Public Safety, Synthetic Drugs

In mid 2024, community-based drug checking programs discovered the industrial chemical bis (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate (BTMPS) in the illicit opioid supply in Portland, Oregon and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The substance appears as a white powder, and on industrial chemical websites, it is often referred to by its brand name, Tinuvin® 770. Used, among other things, as a protective coating on plastics to provide protection against ultraviolet rays, BTMPS belongs to a class of molecules called hindered amine light stabilizers. It is not approved for use in humans or animals, and it is not a scheduled or regulated substance in the U.S. This fact sheet provides an overview of the sudden increase in the presence of BTMPS in the illicit drug supply and its rapid proliferation across the country, which has left drug policy experts and harm reduction specialists puzzled as to why it is in the supply and how it will affect the individuals consuming it....

October 7, 2024 | Criminal Justice, Fact Sheets, Law Enforcement, Reentry

Collateral consequences are legal, regulatory, and policy barriers imposed against an individual arrested for, charged with, or convicted of a criminal offense that often have no connection to the criminal offense. These consequences include but are not limited to: (1) the loss of the rights to vote, serve on a jury, or possess a firearm; (2) barriers in obtaining housing, employment, higher education, professional licensure, and federal and state government benefits; and (3) barriers in obtaining credit and loans, including student loans. This fact sheet provides an overview of the collateral consequences of becoming involved in the criminal justice system....