Public Health

November 16, 2021 | Controlled Substances, First Responders, Harm Reduction, Model Laws, Naloxone, Opioid Antagonists, Opioids, Public Health, Public Safety, Recovery, Substance Abuse, Treatments

LAPPA’s Model Expanded Access to Emergency Opioid Antagonists Act provides state officials with the means to increase the ability of their citizens to access and use life-saving emergency opioid antagonists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that over 934,000 Americans died from a fatal overdose involving an opioid between 1999 and 2020. Opioid antagonists, such as naloxone, can be used during emergencies to reverse opioid overdoses and are effective in preventing fatal drug overdoses. This Act: (1) enables all citizens to access emergency opioid antagonists; (2) encourages citizens to obtain emergency opioid antagonists; (3) grants immunity to individuals who administer opioid antagonists; (4) requires physicians to co-prescribe an emergency opioid antagonist when prescribing an opioid to someone; (5) ensures that health insurance covers emergency opioid antagonists, like naloxone; (6) prohibits discriminatory life and health insurance practices related to the possession of emergency opioid antagonists; (7) provides increased access to opioid antagonists in educational institutions and correctional settings; (8) establishes a pilot program to increase bystander access to emergency opioid antagonists; and (9) promotes initiatives that educate citizens on the life-saving potential of emergency opioid antagonists....

October 21, 2021 | Controlled Substances, Model Laws, Opioids, Public Health, Recovery, Substance Abuse, Treatments

In partnership with the O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center, the Center for U.S. Policy, and Brown & Weinraub, PLLC, LAPPA developed a model law to assist states in their efforts to maximize funds available to address the overdose crisis. The Model Opioid Litigation Proceeds Act will guide states through the establishment of a dedicated fund, separate from the state’s general treasury fund, that is designated for substance use disorder abatement, including prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction infrastructure, programs, services, supports, and resources. All proceeds received by the state arising out of legal claims made against manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioid analgesics, pharmacies that dispensed prescription opioid analgesics, and related parties shall be deposited into the dedicated fund....

July 26, 2021 | Controlled Substances, Drug Courts, First Responders, Law Enforcement, Legal & Legislative Research, Public Health, Public Safety, Substance Abuse, Treatments

All across the U.S. jails are filled with people who need medical care and social services, many of whom cycle in and out of jail without ever receiving the help they need. One emerging model to combat this problem is deflection, which seeks to prevent individuals who have low to moderate criminogenic risk, but significant unmet social, economic, and health needs, from entering the criminal justice system. The goal of deflection programs is to lessen the burden on the criminal justice system by connecting those individuals—before they enter the criminal justice system—to treatment and social services to which they might not otherwise have access. This document is designed to: (1) provide a singular resource for each jurisdiction’s deflection laws; (2) allow for a comparison of these laws between jurisdictions; and (3) identify and highlight interesting provisions....

July 7, 2021 | Controlled Substances, Model Laws, Public Health, Treatments

Newly incarcerated individuals who use substances require medical intervention to mitigate the effects of withdrawal symptoms and prevent death, suicide, and injury while in custody. Recent data show that nearly two thirds of sentenced individuals in jails meet the criteria for drug dependence or abuse. LAPPA’s Model Withdrawal Management Protocol in Correctional Settings Act requires evidence-based treatment of substance use disorders, including the use of FDA-approved medications; requires correctional settings to establish and implement administrative and clinical protocols when detaining individuals at risk of withdrawal; and provides state legislators, policymakers, and those in the correctional and health care professions with a comprehensive framework to better respond to withdrawal symptoms and related mental health crises of individuals in custody to decrease their mortality while in correctional settings. ...

June 29, 2021 | Innovative Initiatives, Opioids, Public Health, Public Safety, Synthetic Drugs

One of the ways in which jurisdictions are combating the epidemic of drug overdoses in communities is through the use of “spike alerts,” that is, targeted messages that notify recipients that there is an unexpected increase in drug-related overdoses in a specific area. The purpose of these notifications is to “reduce injury or death from opioid overdoses during spike events.” ...

June 22, 2021 | Controlled Substances, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Public Health, Reports & Studies

Since the late 1990s, the United States has outpaced every other country in per capita opioid consumption. Most research suggests that high levels of prescription opioid consumption in the United States have contributed to the current epidemic of opioid misuse and overdose deaths; a review of the scientific literature through February 2020 on international opioid consumption and prescribing practices points to several possible underlying reasons explaining the difference in opioid consumption per capita in the United States....

April 27, 2021 | Innovative Initiatives, Public Health, Recovery

Project for Pride in Living (PPL) was founded in 1972 by Joe Selvaggio to create affordable housing for those in need. It began by renovating houses and now builds affordable housing for qualified individuals in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) area of Minnesota. Additionally, since its inception, PPL has offered employment training to the services it offers. ...