Substance Misuse

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 10, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Kratom, Legal & Legislative Research, Opioids, Substance Misuse

Kratom is an herb derived from a leafy Southeast Asian tree and contains two psychoactive compounds that can bind to opioid receptors in the brain and produce a pharmacological response similar to effects produced by other opioid agonists, such as morphine. As of April 2025, 24 states and the District of Columbia regulate kratom. This document: (1) provides a singular resource for each jurisdiction’s laws; (2) allows for a comparison of these laws between jurisdictions; and (3) identifies and highlights interesting provisions. ...

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....

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

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

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....

January 6, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Insurance, Model Laws, Public Health, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Treatments

The Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Act aims to empower effective enforcement of mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) parity standards at the state level. This model legislation requires: (1) health benefit plans to provide mental health and SUD benefits on terms no more restrictive than those for medical/surgical benefits; and (2) health insurers to demonstrate compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act for all state-regulated health benefit plans subject to the parameters of this legislation. The overarching purpose of this Act is to save lives and improve health and quality of life by expanding access to mental health and SUD treatment....

December 3, 2024 | Controlled Substances, Model Laws, Peer Support and Recoery Services, Public Health, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Workforce Development

Drafted in collaboration with the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, the purpose of the Model Building the Substance Use Disorder Workforce of the Future Act is to address the current and projected shortage of professions for the substance use disorder workforce, including psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians who are certified in addiction medicine, addiction counselors, social workers, nursing professionals, peer support professionals, and others. This legislation guides states in adopting a strategy that supports and advances immediate, intermediate, and long-term measures to build and sustain an SUD workforce....

November 19, 2024 | Innovative Initiatives, K-12 Education, Public Health, Substance Misuse

In the fall of 2022, West Virginia implemented an opioid and substance misuse prevention program named Game Changer in three public high schools. The first of its kind in the nation program uses student peer leadership programs that focus on building school environments that foster and promote healthy living and staying away from using or experimenting with alcohol and drugs....