Public Safety

May 7, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Data Collection, Law Enforcement, Legal & Legislative Research, Opioids, Public Health, Public Safety, Substance Misuse, Substance Use Disorder, Trafficking

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is an agency of the Executive Office of the President and is charged with leading and coordinating “the nation’s drug policy so that it improves the health and lives of the American people." This document provides statutory, regulatory. and legislative information about the nineteen states that have followed ONDCP’s example and created either a state-level office of drug control policy or an advisory commission separate from the state agency charged with oversight of controlled substances that is dedicated to addressing alcohol and drug abuse issues in the state....

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

This fact sheet provides updated information (as of April 2025) on the issue of drug diversion in health care settings. 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 9, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Harm Reduction, Law Enforcement, Legal & Legislative Research, Opioids, Public Health, Public Safety, Sharps/Syringes, Substance Misuse

Syringe services programs (SSP) are harm reduction programs that provide a wide range of services including, but not typically limited to, the provision of new, unused hypodermic needles and syringes and other injection drug use supplies, such as cookers, tourniquets, alcohol wipes, and sharps waste disposal containers, to people who inject drugs. In this summary, readers will find information with respect to SSPs for each state, including citations to applicable statutes and/or regulations, whether the state allows SSPs by statute, whether there are any municipal or county ordinances or regulations in place within the state, program components, miscellaneous provisions, and information on any pending legislation....

April 7, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Fentanyl, Legal & Legislative Research, Public Health, Public Safety, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

In this survey, the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) examines the legislative and regulatory response at the state level to the issue of fentanyl cleanup. As at the federal level, there is little policy in this area, and the only exceptions to that rule are very recent. Findings are presented jurisdiction by jurisdiction for easy comparison among the states, and include pending legislation....

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

In this fact sheet the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (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, Fentanyl, Harm Reduction, Public Safety, Synthetic Drugs

In this fact sheet the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) 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....

January 30, 2025 | Controlled Substances, First Responders, Legal & Legislative Research, Naloxone, Opioid Antagonists, Opioid Antagonists, Opioids, Overdose Reversal Agent, Public Health, Public Safety, Substance Misuse

In an effort to save lives, states have implemented laws to make it easier for first responders and the general public to obtain overdose reversal agents, such as naloxone. Additionally, to encourage people to assist an individual who is or may be suffering an overdose, the majority of states also enacted laws which protect laypeople who administer overdose reversal agents, in good faith, in an emergency from civil and/or criminal liability. The Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) undertook an extensive research project to determine the current status of overdose reversal agent access laws throughout the United States, including the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories. As of January 2025, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have some form of an overdose reversal agent access law....

September 24, 2024 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Harm Reduction, Law Enforcement, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Public Health, Public Safety, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Toolkits

The Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA), in partnership with the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations, developed several resources related to overdose fatality review (OFR), including a complete summary of state OFR laws, a guide on how OFR teams can obtain information from the Indian Health Service, and a guide on how OFR teams can obtain information from the Veterans Health Administration....

April 11, 2024 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Harm Reduction, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Naloxone, Opioid Antagonists, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Public Health, Public Safety, Recovery, Reports & Studies, Substance Misuse, Treatments

The Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law was established in 2018 through a generous grant from Arnold Ventures. Housed at Georgetown Law, the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative works at the intersection of public health and the law to advance a public health approach to substance use disorder and the overdose epidemic through legal and policy strategies that promote evidence-based treatment, harm reduction, and recovery. This reports highlights O'Neill's accomplishments over the last five years....