The opioid epidemic isn’t unsolvable

There are real, evidence-based solutions to the drug overdose crisis.

Don’t take opioids off the market - make it harder to abuse them

As a researcher who studies how pharmaceuticals are used and what effects they have, I believe it makes more sense to reduce both the supply and demand side of prescription drug abuse – without interfering with their safe and appropriate use. We can do this by reimagining how we design and prescribe addictive drugs.

Fentanyl & Overdose Prevention​

Recently, brightly colored fentanyl, referred to as “rainbow” fentanyl , has begun circulating in illegal markets. “Rainbow” fentanyl can be found in many forms, including pills, powders, and blocks that can resemble sidewalk chalk or candy. Regardless of appearance or color, any pill that does not come from a health care provider or pharmacist could contain fentanyl and be deadly

How to stop the deadliest drug overdose crisis in American history

The opioid epidemic could kill hundreds of thousands in the next decade. But America can beat it.

Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit

This toolkit offers strategies to health care providers, communities, and local governments for developing practices and policies to help prevent opioid-related overdoses and deaths.

Overdose Prevention Strategy

We can prevent overdoses and save lives by ensuring equitable access to essential health care and support services without stigma.

Overdoses Have Skyrocketed During the Pandemic. How Do We Stop Them?

Why are so many Americans dying of overdoses, and what measures — in addition to or instead of those New York took this week — could help address the crisis? Here’s what people are saying.

Pharmacists could be front-line fighters in battle against opioid epidemic

Naloxone alone will not mitigate the opioid crisis. Yet the ability to reverse a fatal overdose – having someone nearby who carries and can administer naloxone – allows the survivor another chance to enter treatment that addresses the social, structural, genetic, behavioral and individual factors of opioid use disorder. Pharmacists have an important role in helping to remove the stigma associated with requesting and carrying naloxone by openly discussing its benefits and making naloxone available to all patients.

Reducing opioid use disorder and overdose deaths in the United States: A dynamic modeling analysis

Opioid overdose deaths remain a major public health crisis. We used a system dynamics simulation model of the U.S. opioid-using population age 12 and older to explore the impacts of 11 strategies on the prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) and fatal opioid overdoses from 2022 to 2032.

The Experiment Aiming To Keep Drug Users Alive By Helping Them Get High More Safely

As record numbers of people in the U.S. die from drug overdoses, communities are searching for tools to prevent them. A new program in Canada could serve as a model. Over the past few years, government-approved clinics have opened across the country, where people can use street drugs under medical supervision.

The Importance of Prevention in Addressing the Opioid Crisis

As our communities, healthcare systems, and government agencies join in the effort to reverse the epidemic of opioid overdoses and solve the opioid crisis, it is not enough to focus all our resources on treating people who are already addicted to opioids. Keeping people who do not have an opioid use disorder from becoming addicted is an equally important task.

Treating and Preventing Opioid Overdose

When it comes to the opioid epidemic, we can all have a positive impact regardless of our social, economic, or professional status. It is important to practice safe medication use, storage, and disposal to prevent poisoning.

We’re failing in the opioid crisis. A new study shows a more serious approach would save lives

The study suggests a comprehensive approach is needed — one that goes way further than what America has done so far.

What if America tackled its opioid crisis?

Though addiction to all types of drugs (including cocaine and methamphetamines) has steadily increased, the primary problem remains opioids. They came to the fore in the early 1990s in the form of prescription painkillers that were unscrupulously marketed to doctors as unlikely to cause addiction.