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November 12, 2019 | Public Health, Recovery, Reports & Studies

This statement describes (1) what is known about the prevalence of recovery homes across the United States; and (2) investigations and actions selected states have undertaken to oversee such homes. It is largely based on GAO’s March 2018 report (GAO-18-315). For that report, GAO reviewed national and state data, among other things, and interviewed officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, national associations, and five states—Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, and Utah. GAO selected these states based on their rates of opioid overdose deaths, their rates of dependence or abuse of alcohol and other drugs, and other criteria....

November 12, 2019 | Criminal Justice, Innovative Initiatives, Treatments

Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy (TN ROCS) was founded in 2013 by Circuit Court Judge O. Duane Slone to work with drug offenders with opioid use disorders (OUDs) who did not qualify for his drug recovery court. The program relies on the practices and principles of drug court, requires fewer resources, and is based on three components: (1) obtaining an accurate screening and assessment and providing a referral to the proper level of treatment for an appropriate period of time; (2) frequent accountability through appropriate levels of supervision; and (3) the knowledge that the judge has power over the participant’s freedom....

November 11, 2019 | Reports & Studies, Treatments

Innovation Now is a program that re-imagines how we can address addiction as a national. The initiative showcases innovative programs and intervention from every sector that are actively transforming the field of addiction across the country. This report focuses on ten innovative solutions that are transforming addiction prevention, treatment and recovery....

October 29, 2019 | Criminal Justice, Reports & Studies

The Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards (FTC Standards) were written to reflect the shift toward person-centered, strengths-based, family-focused, and action-oriented practices. The Family Treatment Court Standards embrace the fundamental principle of working with the entire family affected by substance use disorders (SUDs) or co-occurring disorders with a goal toward long-term recovery and reunification through healing and wellness. ...

October 18, 2019 | Fact Sheets

In August 2019, the RAND Corporation (RAND) published an extensive, 265 page report on fentanyl entitled, The Future of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids (the Report). Considering the importance of the Report, the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) designed this Fact Sheet to assist policymakers’ understanding of the Report by distilling key aspects into readily digestible paragraphs....

October 8, 2019 | Innovative Initiatives, Treatments

Started in 2003, Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) combines primary and specialty care, linking “expert specialty teams” from an academic hub with primary care physicians (PCPs) in local, often rural, communities. This distance education model enables specialists to train and mentor PCPs to care for patients with complex health conditions....

October 8, 2019 | Marijuana, Reports & Studies

Every year since 2013 the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) has published an annual report that tracks the overall impact of the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state of Colorado.  The stated purpose of these reports is to provide data that informs policy makers as they make decisions about marijuana legalization....

October 8, 2019 | Marijuana, Reports & Studies

The co-authors of this recently released study used opioid mortality data obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to compare opioid death rate trends in each marijuana-legalizing state and the District of Columbia prior to and after medicinal and recreational legalization implementation with associated trends in non-legalizing states. 78% of legalizing jurisdictions showed a statistically significant acceleration of opioid death rates after legalization implementation at greater rates than the pre-legalization rate or the concurrent rate in non-legalizing states....