Treatments

December 22, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Drug Courts, First Responders, Law Enforcement, Legal & Legislative Research, Public Health, Public Safety, Substance Misuse, 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....

October 23, 2025 | Opioids, Pharmacy, Reports & Studies, Substance Use Disorder, Treatments

In collaboration with the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) recently released "Pharmacists and Buprenorphine: Analysis of State Laws and Regulations." Funded by the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) Foundation, this project, named Pharmacy Bridge, focused on a demonstration of the real-world application and outcomes of two innovative models of pharmacy-based, low-barrier buprenorphine induction and maintenance services: (1) collaborative care through a collaborative practice agreement (CPA); and (2) independent pharmacist prescribing of buprenorphine. The report contains state-by-state descriptions and analyses of relevant statutes and regulations as well as a detailed summary of overall findings....

August 28, 2025 | Controlled Substances, Criminal Justice, Fact Sheets, Harm Reduction, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Opioids, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Treatments

Through the use of medications for addiction treatment (MAT), an individual’s substance use, withdrawal symptoms, and the physiological and psychological cravings can be controlled, enabling the person to begin treatment while in a correctional facility and be released as a person in, or on his or her way to, recovery. Research shows that that the use of MAT for Opioid Use Disorder in correctional settings is a cost-effective and life-saving intervention....

April 14, 2025 | Data Collection, Health Data, Recovery, Reports & Studies, Substance Use Disorder, Treatments

In 2024, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) convened an interagency working group (IWG) comprised of 30 federal agencies to identify federal recovery research gaps and opportunities on recovery from substance use disorder (SUD). This article outlines the process undertaken to identify these research opportunities and describes four core research topic areas and three cross-cutting themes and provides the rationale for their selection. It also identifies potential pathways for recovery research, including evaluation and data collection activities, and discusses challenges and potential opportunities for recovery research....

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....

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....

November 5, 2024 | Controlled Substances, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Opioids, Recovery, Reports & Studies, Treatments

The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, together published a report that includes a comprehensive review of the laws and regulations that apply to methadone for opioid use disorder (OUD) to determine which laws and regulations would need to be amended in order to support pharmacy-based methadone treatment for OUD. This analysis (1) includes a discussion of the agencies involved in governing methadone for OUD treatment; (2) explains the provision in federal Controlled Substances Act that creates the regulatory scheme for methadone treatment; (3) describes DEA regulations governing Narcotic Treatment Programs; and (4) summarizes the general types of state laws and regulations that place additional restrictions on methadone for OUD treatment....

October 24, 2024 | Emergency Departments, Harm Reduction, Innovative Initiatives, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Public Health, Recovery, Substance Misuse, Treatments

To complement the opioid prescribing guidelines that the University of Buffalo Department of Emergency Medicine established in 2016, Dr. Joshua Lynch developed the Medication for Addiction Treatment and Electronic Referrals (MATTERS) program. He saw the need for MATTERs because the “window of opportunity” to help someone with a substance use disorder is small, and he wanted to immediately link a patient who had overdosed to a treatment program that is right for that individual....