While many medical professionals promote an abstinence-based approach to discussing drug use, offering tools and education around safer drug use supports patient health if they continue to use drugs. Harm reduction is the moral foundation and root practice of offering these tools and services. View this guide from the CA ED Bridge Program on how to establish a harm reduction program in your hospital and easily access related resources.

The California Department of Public Health Overdose Prevention Initiative (CDPH OPI) shares recommendations and resources to statewide partners in response to increases in drug overdoses statewide. Each recommendation lists resources by partner type (public safety, public health departments, community-based organizations, health care providers and settings, harm reduction organizations, medical examiners and coroners, and public health and forensic laboratories). Identify your partner type and review the resources for local overdose prevention and response implementation. The CDPH OPI team will continue to update this webpage with new information and resources as needed.

NEXTDistro is an online and mail-based harm reduction service designed to reduce opioid overdose death, prevent injection-related disease transmission, and improve the lives of people who use drugs.

Exhibit E list of opioid remediation uses in reference to national opioid settlements (2022).

This page provides information for California cities and counties regarding the National Opioids Settlements, including the proposed multistate settlements with pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen (the Distributors), and manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its parent company Johnson & Johnson (collectively J&J), that were announced by Attorney General Bonta on July 21, 2021.

The Overdose Prevention Initiative (OPI) team has created a Fentanyl Test Strips (FTS) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s). This resource is located on the Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch page listed under: Publications and on the fentanyl resource page listed under: Why is fentanyl dangerous.

Utilize this tool to develop a persuasive narrative of your coalition’s work and community impact.

Utilize this tool to create an impactful narrative for crafting an impact message of your coalition’s work.

Nationwide settlements have been reached to resolve all opioids litigation brought by states and local political subdivisions against the three largest pharmaceutical distributors. These settlements will provide substantial funds to states and subdivisions for abatement of the opioid epidemic across the country, and will impose transformative changes in the way the settling defendants conduct their business. This web page outlines the various opioid settlements for the tribal communities in the U.S., and offers legal documents outlining the risks and opportunities that these funds present.

Founded in 2016, this international group provides is combatting the drug death crisis by empowering organizations and the general public with simple, cost-effective drug testing methods.

DanceSafe is a nonprofit that provides drug checking and is founded on social justice principles. They are known for testing users drugs at festivals and events and have additional programs ranging from drug education to consent deep-dives to political advocacy to sexual health. You can visit their site to learn more about their efforts or purchase drug testing products via their shop.

BTNX Inc. is a biotechnology company that specializes in rapid, point-of-care diagnostics. BTNX is the manufacturer of fentanyl testing strips which can be purchased directly from this manufacturer.

Santa Barbara Opioid Safety Coalition worked with Santa Maria Joint Union High School District to recently amend a local school policy surrounding medication administration to additionally include naloxone into the policy. This policy allows for the superintendent or designee, or any trained district staff member, to administer naloxone during an opioid overdose. This is an excellent showcase on how COPN coalitions are implementing policy change at the local level.

California Department of Public Health has a Harm Reduction and Syringe Access Division, focused on serving people who inject drugs. California law supports public health efforts to expand access to sterile syringes through both syringe exchange programs (SEPs, also known as syringe services programs) and nonprescription syringe sale in pharmacies.

CDPH has issued a statewide standing order to help reduce morbidity and mortality associated with opioid overdose by facilitating the distribution and administration of Naloxone Hydrochloride (Naloxone) in California.

This is an example of a local naloxone policy implementing by a county office of education. This policy allows for the superintendent or designee or any trained district staff member to administer naloxone during an opioid overdose and includes language to ensure the superintendent or designee to train and distribute naloxone kits to district staff and replace if used or expired.

Shasta Substance Use Coalition developed a story map to provide their community with a resource to understand the scope of fentanyl’s impact on their community utilizing local data, Arc GIS mapping, and story telling. Visit their website to learn more.

Let’s Talk began as a collaborative effort between Marin County Office of Education, Marin Health and Human Services and Marin Healthy Youth Partnerships, and has been adapted for the Tri-County Region by the Central Coast Tri-County Coalition. Let’s Talk is a parent toolkit for navigating teen substance use and this booklet has been adapted to include specific data and information for the Central Coast Tri-County Region.

Learn more on Cal Poly’s DxHub and how it applies Amazon’s human-centered, ‘Working Backwards’ innovation methodology to tackle challenges facing government, education, and non-profit organizations.The DxHub team leads public sector organizations through innovation and solution workshops structured to generate big ideas and impactful solutions such as helping to create the San Luis Obispo Opioid Safety Coalition’s Naloxone Now Web App.

Visit this website to learn how the Cloud Innovation Centers (CIC) Program provides an opportunity for nonprofits, education institutions, and government agencies to collaborate with other public sector organizations on their most pressing challenges, test new ideas with Amazon’s innovation process, and access the technology expertise of Amazon Web Services (AWS).