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October 2, 2024 | Harm Reduction, Innovative Initiatives, Naloxone, Opioid Antagonists, Opioid Antagonists, Recovery, Substance Misuse

In 2018, the city of Chicago, IL gained an ally in the fight against fatal overdoses and substance use disorder in the non-profit organization, To Walk in My Shoes. Co-founded by Marnell Brown, a person in long term recovery, To Walk in My Shoes provides resources and support for those in need in the community. In addition to providing individuals with job skills training, including interview practice and how to write a resume, money management skills, and conflict resolution skills, To Walk in My Shoes also works to raise awareness about and provide testing for HIV/AIDS....

September 26, 2024 | Criminal Justice, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Model Laws, Recovery, Treatments

Drafted in partnership with the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, the purpose of the this model legislation is to: (1) promote the use of all U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for addiction treatment options in correctional settings; (2) ensure that all incarcerated individuals with a substance use disorder are provided access to medication for addiction treatment while incarcerated, are treated as individual patients, and have individualized treatment plans reflecting their clinical needs and not a one-size-fits-all approach; and (3) ensure that, upon release from a correctional setting, individuals receiving medication for addiction treatment are provided with a connection in the community for continued care, including a prescription for the medication for addiction treatment and the necessary contacts and tools to continue their treatment....

September 25, 2024 | Criminal Justice, Legal & Legislative Research, Recovery, 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. In this document, LAPPA (1) provides a single resource highlighting each jurisdiction’s laws related to collateral consequences; (2) allows for comparison of the laws between jurisdictions; and (3) identifies and highlights any interesting or novel provisions....

September 19, 2024 | News Bites

Each issue of News Bites highlights unique news articles from around the United States in the areas of public health and safety, substance use disorder, and the criminal justice system. Every other month, LAPPA updates readers on news they may have missed....

August 19, 2024 | Case Law Monitor

Each issue of Case Law Monitor highlights unique cases from around the United States in the areas of public health and safety, substance use disorder, and the criminal justice system. Every other month, LAPPA updates readers on cases that are important to the field....

July 19, 2024 | Insurance, Model Laws, Reentry

The Model Medicaid Reentry Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver Act: (1) requires a state department of health and human services to apply for a Medicaid reentry Section 1115 demonstration waiver to allow a state Medicaid program to cover pre-release services for a Medicaid eligible incarcerated individual for up to 90 days prior to the individual’s expected release date; and (2) requires a state department of health and human services to conduct comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of the Medicaid reentry demonstration, if the waiver is approved....

July 19, 2024 | Model Laws, Reentry

The Model Relief from Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act: (1) establishes a process for the identification, collection, and publication of state and federal collateral consequences that impact an individual who has been convicted of a crime and provide for a method to notify such individual of those consequences; (2) establishes a process by which an individual can obtain a certificate of relief from certain collateral consequences before records are eligible to be sealed or expunged; (3) establishes mechanisms for the automatic sealing and automatic expungement of criminal history records; (4) establishes a process by which an individual can petition to seal or expunge his or her criminal history records which includes a rebuttable presumption in favor of granting such petitions; (4) prohibits certain individuals and entities from inquiring into an individual’s criminal history unless an exception applies; and (5) establishes penalties for the unlawful disclosure of sealed or expunged criminal history records....

July 15, 2024 | News Bites

Each issue of News Bites highlights unique news articles from around the United States in the areas of public health and safety, substance use disorder, and the criminal justice system. Every other month, LAPPA updates readers on news they may have missed....

July 12, 2024 | Fact Sheets, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Novel Psychoactive Substances, Opioids, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Treatments

Methadone is one of the three medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration used for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Evidence shows that for patients who suffer a nonfatal overdose, subsequent methadone treatment reduces the likelihood of a future fatal opioid overdose by over 50 percent. In 2024, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued the first substantive changes to its federal methadone regulations in over 20 years. This final rule updated and modified several aspects of existing regulations with the goal of expanding the use of methadone for OUD treatment. As part of the revisions, SAMHSA clarified that a hospital, long-term care entity, or correctional facility, if appropriately registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration, can provide and initiate methadone as a treatment for OUD to those with a primary diagnosis other than substance withdrawal or OUD. In this fact sheet the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association details changes to the definition of "primary diagnosis" other than OUD regulation. The fact sheet also covers the federal regulatory scheme for methadone to treat OUD and explains what led SAMHSA to revise its regulations. ...

June 28, 2024 | Fact Sheets, Novel Psychoactive Substances, Opioids, Stimulants, Substance Misuse, Synthetic Drugs

The Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association is monitoring the emergence of novel psychoactive substances appearing on the illicit drug market in the United States. The term “novel” does not denote a new, never-before-seen substance but rather a substance that is newly available in the drug market. This fact sheet examines medetomidine, a powerful veterinary sedative that has been appearing as an adulterant in fentanyl mixtures in the U.S. Medetomidine is a synthetic alpha-2 agonist that is used as a sedative in veterinary medicine and sold under the brand name Domitor®. Medetomidine belongs to the same drug class as xylazine, but its potency is 200 times greater, and has a longer duration of action, than xylazine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only approved medetomidine for use in veterinary medicine, and information about the use of the substance in humans is limited. The effects of medetomidine on humans are not well understood but include prolonged sedation, slow heart rate, slowed breathing, and low blood pressure. Similar to xylazine, the combination of medetomidine with other substances, like fentanyl, can enhance or prolong the effects of the substance and place the individual at a higher risk of overdose than from the...