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Opioid Resources

Law Enforcement Efforts to Fight the Opioid Crisis

Convening Police Leaders, Multidisciplinary Partners and Researchers to Identify Promising Practices and to Inform a Research Agenda.

The United States is grappling with an opioid crisis that continues to cause devastation from addiction and massive numbers of deaths from overdose. Law enforcement has a unique role in addressing this crisis because it is directly tasked with interacting with those affected by the crisis on a day-to-day basis.

On September 25 and 26, 2018, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), supported by the RAND Corporation in partnership with the Police Executive Research Forum, hosted an event that brought together subject-matter experts to identify and prioritize promising approaches for responding to the opioid crisis. After a series of panels and discussions, participants produced 13 high-priority needs, including strategies that were perceived to be ready for immediate implementation and those with remaining challenges that should inform the research agenda. The high-priority needs reflect an assessment by the group that one primary solution to the opioid crisis will be a focus on connecting individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) to the medications that can treat them. It will be important to pursue solutions that reduce barriers to the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and expand access and funding for it. Connecting individuals with OUD to treatment will require effective collaborations among law enforcement officers, social workers, and other stakeholders. Finally, in addition to removing legal barriers, community and other stakeholder concerns will need to be addressed before high-priority harm-reduction approaches, such as safe injection sites or syringe exchanges, can be implemented.

Key Findings

Connecting individuals with OUD to treatment will be essential to solve the opioid crisis.

  • The use of MAT should be broadened in the general population, and accessibility should be increased.

  • Nonenforcement police outreach should be promoted to connect individuals to treatment.

  • Alternative treatment models should be explored to better serve individuals with OUD.

  • Medication-assisted and other treatment models should be used in institutional and community corrections.

  • The use of safe injection locations should be explored to facilitate incident response and provide treatment promotion opportunities.

  • Same-day, low-barrier access to treatment with a medication-first model of care should be provided.

  • Syringe services should be provided to reduce associated harms and create treatment intervention opportunities.

 

Lasting partnerships are key to the success of many of the recommended initiatives.

  • Syndromic surveillance or sentinel indicators should be used to recognize spikes in overdoses, new opioids, or emerging drug crises.

 

Care must be taken to protect officers from the physical dangers, mental stress, and trauma they face.

  • A trauma awareness early warning system should be created for law enforcement stress exposure.

  • Mental health interventions should be provided for officers affected by the stresses of policing during the opioid crisis.

 

The ability of laboratories to respond to the epidemic is constrained.

  • Funding models should be developed to allow labs to be agile in responding to needs for new equipment, methods, and safety issues.

  • The frequency and scope of drug screens in death investigations should be increased to identify novel opioids and effects.

  • Data from rapid analysis of seized materials should be used to inform public health and law enforcement interventions.

 

Recommendations

  • A strong body of evidence suggests that MAT is an effective means to treat OUD and reduce harm from opioid abuse as a long-term solution, and this is reflected by the high priority and perceived readiness of solutions that reduce barriers to MAT use, expand access and funding for it, and foster collaborations that can more effectively direct individuals with OUD to MAT options.

  • Effective collaborations are key to the success of many of the high-priority needs identified in the workshop. Connecting individuals with OUD to treatment will require effective collaborations among law enforcement officers, social workers, and other stakeholders. Creating effective syndromic surveillance to monitor spikes in various indicators, increasing the utility of drug screens in death investigations, and better utilizing data from analyses of seized materials will require collaboration among law enforcement, emergency medical services, and community groups, among others. Finally, in addition to removing legal barriers, community and other stakeholder concerns will need to be addressed before high-priority harm-reduction approaches, such as safe injection sites or syringe exchanges, can be implemented.

  • Law enforcement must play a central role in many of these partnerships, and often might take on a leadership role, because it will continue to most frequently and most directly interact with those affected by the opioid crisis. As a result of this interaction, care must be taken to protect the officers on the front lines of the crisis from the physical dangers, mental stress, and trauma they face. Protecting the mental health of officers was seen as a high priority, and law enforcement organizations will need to find ways to increase awareness and effectively implement mental health and occupational stress and trauma interventions for officers.

Law Enforcement Opioid Resources

Law enforcement agencies around the world are grappling with the epidemic of opioid overdoses. This initiative provides resources to address the enforcement side of this crisis, as well as to promote a paradigm shift toward a public health approach to substance use and prevention. The site also includes an online community for sharing ideas on confronting this issue.

Overdose Response:

Training Resources

 

Reports

 

Model Policies and Information on Naloxone

Training:

Training Videos
Webinars 

More information on the IACP website.

What are opioids?

Opioids include three categories of pain-relieving drugs: (1) natural opioids (also called opiates) which are derived from the opium poppy, such as morphine and codeine; (2) semi-synthetic opioids, such as the prescription drugs hydrocodone and oxycodone and the illicit drug heroin; (3) synthetic opioids, such as methadone, tramadol, and fentanyl. Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl analogues, such as carfentanil, can be 10,000 times more potent than morphine. Overdose deaths from fentanyl have greatly increased since 2013 with the introduction of illicitly-manufactured fentanyl entering the drug supply [CDC 2016b; CDC 2018b]. The National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA 2018] has more information about types of opioids.

                                                                               - Centers for Disease Control 

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What is the opioid epidemic?

From 1999–2018, almost 450,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids.

This rise in opioid overdose deaths can be outlined in three distinct waves.

  1. The first wave began with increased prescribing of opioids in the 1990s, with overdose deaths involving prescription opioids (natural and semi-synthetic opioids and methadone) increasing since at least 1999.

  2. The second wave began in 2010, with rapid increases in overdose deaths involving heroin

  3. The third wave began in 2013, with significant increases in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, particularly those involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The market for illicitly manufactured fentanyl continues to change, and it can be found in combination with heroin, counterfeit pills, and cocaine.

                                                                                       - Centers for Disease Control

Can an opioid overdose be reversed?

An opioid overdose can be reversed with the drug naloxone when given right away. Improvements have been seen in some regions of the country in the form of decreasing availability of prescription opioid pain relievers and decreasing misuse among the Nation’s teens. However, since 2007, overdose deaths related to heroin have been increasing. Fortunately, effective medications exist to treat opioid use disorders including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.

A NIDA study found that once treatment is initiated, both a buprenorphine/naloxone combination and an extended release naltrexone formulation are similarly effective in treating opioid addiction. However, naltrexone requires full detoxification, so initiating treatment among active users was more difficult. These medications help many people recover from opioid addiction.

                                                                                                           - National Institute on Drug Abuse

                                                                                                                                             

Where can I get trained to respond to an overdose?

(Wyoming Department of Health) - Posted July 2021

Training first responders (firefighters, police officers, and EMTs) and bystanders (family, friends, and others) on recognizing and responding to an opioid overdose is essential. Anyone who uses heroin or opioid medication, especially those who have never used or have not used in a while, can be at risk of an overdose. Find out how you can save a life.

How can I get naloxone?

Naloxone is a prescription medication. However, a Wyoming law (Wyoming §§ 35-4-901 through 35-5-906) allows pharmacists to prescribe naloxone to individuals. Anyone can go to a local pharmacy and ask about obtaining naloxone.

First responders may apply to receive grant funding for Narcan® Nasal Spray, currently the only FDA-approved intranasal naloxone. Agencies must obtain a standing order (a prescription from a provider for a group, not an individual) to purchase naloxone. For more information on obtaining a standing order, contact a local medical provider.

To get Narcan® Nasal Spray for your agency or organization through the Wyoming Department of Health, complete the application form. Once your application has been reviewed and funding is available, you will be contacted for more information.

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