Recently medical practitioners in Nevada County have seen an increase in patients being seen at the emergency department and other settings as a result of complications from recreational nitrous oxide use. These complications are often neurological, ranging from tingling in the extremities, loss of sensation and significant weakness to long-term neurological damage. Know Overdose Nevada County has made an educational toolkit to provide more information and treatment options.

the Let’s Talk and Let’s Start Talking booklets that OD Free Marin developed to support caregivers, parents, and families in discussing overdose prevention. It also offers information about the teen brain, how much they carry mentally, and how to can best support them.

Harm reduction vending machines help reduce overdose deaths and promote better health and wellness for people experiencing homelessness who have substance use disorders or co-occurring disorders. This fact sheet introduces the evidence-based harm reduction vending machine model, explains how it supports overdose prevention strategies, outlines what supplies to include, and highlights key considerations for implementation.

Santa Cruz County has long prioritized youth substance use prevention through collaborative efforts like Community Prevention Partners and SafeRx Santa Cruz County. In light of new state legislation affecting schools, this guide provides schools with practical strategies, curricula options, and concrete resources to not only move into compliance, but to optimally support students' overall well-being.

The Emerging Trends in Addiction Medicine Podcast series features the learnings of hospitals taking part in the CA Bridge Centers of Excellence project. In addition to sharing best practices for low-threshold access to buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder, this series will explore emerging treatment pathways for stimulant use disorder and post-overdose care. The series will also share learnings from the Centers of Excellence hospitals’ response to the increased supply of fentanyl in California so that all hospitals are able to address the overdose crisis with evidence-based care.

Overdose deaths in the United States dropped by nearly 17% between July 2023 and July 2024. However, over 93,000 people died of drug overdose in that period, more than the number of people who died from vehicle-caused accidents or firearms combined. This remains an urgent public health issue that requires evidence-based solutions. Public health interventions saved lives and must be expanded. Effective interventions include: the overdose prevention drug naloxone, expanded harm reduction services such as fentanyl test strips, increased access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and drug education based in facts, not fear.

Words matter, especially when talking about substance use disorder (SUD). Shatterproof recognizes the difficulty of making language changes across organizations and systems. That’s why they created training materials that are made available for everyone wanting to make a difference.

The AOR database catalogues information about how 13 states of Appalachia are managing and spending funds received from litigation settlements with opioid manufactures, distributors, and retailers.

The holidays can be a difficult time for many. That’s why Mid- America ATTC developed a holiday toolkit. This toolkit includes tips for people in recovery and those who support them, harm reduction techniques for those who want to cut back during the holidays, self-care ideas, LGBTQ+ and recovery resources, and more!

Did you know stigma can shorten a person’s lifespan by 12 years? In this episode of Addiction Medicine Made Easy, Casey Grover, MD reviews what stigma is, how it affects patients with stigmatizing conditions, and how to reduce stigma in health care.

In recent years overdose death rates have been highest among American Indian and Alaskan Native People. Research prioritized by native communities is essential for enhancing and promoting positive health outcomes. The Native Collective Research Effort to Enhance Wellness (N CREW) Program will support research projects led directly by Tribes and organizations that serve Native American communities. The NIH will also support the development of a Native Research Network to provide training, resources, and real-time support to N CREW participants.

OD Free Marin provided their naloxone instructional pocket card PDF for other individuals to use as an example to adapt for local use.

University of Kansas has created curriculm on the importance of maintenance within a coalition. This covers what needs to be maintained, and how to maintain your work successfully. The curriculum explores some alternatives to simple maintenance -- coalition growth, for example, or changing direction, and even ending. But the key point about maintenance is that it won't happen all by itself. It takes effort -- conscious, planned, and ongoing.

A Division for Advancing Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) supports the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program by operationalizing the National HIDTA Prevention Strategy. ADAPT and HIDTA has created curriculum for implementing and evaluating substance use prevention practices within communities and has created videos to assist communities with keeping up to date with advances in prevention science. Their video library has s variety of trainings and technical webinars to cultivate, nurture, and support implementation of their prevention programming and curriculum.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC) is a multicenter toxicosurveillance and research network. As a toxicosurveillance network, ToxIC can detect new and emerging drugs of abuse, adverse effects of new medications in the post-marketing phase, and emerging toxicological threats. On their webpage you can explore their various projects like the Fentalog Project, learn more about ToxIC, and more.

This action-oriented e-course supports organizations to make racial justice and equity work part of their day to day values and practice designed specifically for organizations and providers working with people who use drugs.

In this fireside chat, Ruchika Tulshyan and Melody Barnes (Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions) discussed practices that can support and operationalize inclusive, equity-centered collaborative cultures. They also shared about the importance of elevating the voices of women of color and those historically underestimated within collaborative work.

The California Department of Public Health has created a video in Spanish that features information on administering naloxone.

The California Department of Public Health has created a video in English that features information on administering naloxone.

The California Department of Public Health has created a webpage in Spanish that features information on fentanyl.