Santa Barbara Opioid Safety Coalition

Category: Policy

  • AMA Releases New Report on Opioid Prescriptions and Overdose Deaths

    AMA Releases New Report on Opioid Prescriptions and Overdose Deaths

    September 21, 2021.

    Over the past decade, there has been a 44.4% decrease in opioid prescribing nationwide, according to a new report from the American Medical Association (AMA). Yet, the nation continues to see increases in overdose mainly due to illicit fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, methamphetamine and cocaine. To address this continuing epidemic, the AMA is urging policymakers to join physicians to reduce mortality and improve patient outcomes by removing barriers to evidence-based care, by acting now to:

    • Stop prior authorization for medications to treat opioid use disorder.
    • Ensure access to affordable, evidence-based care for patients with pain, including opioid therapy when indicated. While opioid prescriptions have decreased, the AMA is greatly concerned by widespread reports of patients with pain being denied care because of arbitrary restrictions on opioid therapy or a lack of access to affordable non-opioid pain care.
    • Take action to better support harm reduction services such as naloxone and needle and syringe exchange services.
    • Improve the data by collecting adequate, standardized data to identify and treat at-risk populations and better understand the issues facing communities.

    Read the full article here.

  • The California Overdose Prevention Network

    The California Overdose Prevention Network

    The California Overdose Prevention Network (COPN) is a network for coalitions, organizations, and individuals working at the forefront of the overdose epidemic. Since 2017, COPN has led the effort to provide a statewide forum for coalitions, organizations, and individuals working to combat the overdose crisis in California. COPN is the largest overdose prevention network in the country, with active coalitions serving 85% of California’s 33 million people. In 2018, COPN launched an Accelerator Program to support local coalitions to strive for greater impact within their communities. Their work is focused on preventing new addictions, increasing access to treatment, and stopping overdose deaths. The Santa Barbara Opioid Safety Coalition is one of over 30 coalitions that have participated in the Accelerator Program to share ideas, learn better methods, and discover the latest strategies to prevent new addictions, increase access to treatment, and stop overdose deaths.

  • The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation and to improve the lives of individuals living with mental and substance use disorders, and their families. SAMHSA provides leadership and resources – programs, policies, information and data, funding, and personnel – to advance mental and substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services in order to improve individual, community, and public health.

  • The California Society of Addiction Medicine

    The California Society of Addiction Medicine

    The California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM) is the largest state chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) comprised of physicians and other healthcare professionals who are dedicated to improving the treatment of substance use disorders. With over 700 members, CSAM offers education, advocacy, and leadership in influential state and national roles.

  • California MAT Expansion Project

    California MAT Expansion Project

    The California MAT Expansion Project aims to increase access to Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT), reduce unmet treatment need, and reduce opioid overdose deaths through prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. The project also includes media campaigns, engagement of opioid safety coalitions, naloxone distribution, drug take-back efforts, and supportive housing.

  • The Drug Policy Alliance

    The Drug Policy Alliance

    The Drug Policy Alliance is an advocacy organization focused on advancing policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies. The Drug Policy Alliance envisions a just society in which the use and regulation of drugs are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights, in which people are no longer punished for what they put into their own bodies but only for crimes committed against others, and in which the fears, prejudices and punitive prohibitions of today are no more.

  • The National Harm Reduction Coalition

    The National Harm Reduction Coalition

    The National Harm Reduction Coalition is a nationwide advocate and ally for people who use drugs. Their website provide information on the principles of harm reduction and offers resources and online trainings at the national and local level regarding harm reduction strategies. The California Chapter of the Harm Reduction Coalition, located in Oakland, provides harm reduction resources for people who use drugs in California.

  • CA Bridge

    CA Bridge

    CA Bridge was officially launched in 2018 with a grant from the California Department of Health Care Services MAT Expansion Project and is a program of the Public Health Institute, based in Oakland, California. Their vision is that all hospitals will treat opioid addiction:

    “We are disrupting the addiction treatment landscape by championing the idea that substance use disorder is a condition that can, and should, be treated by medical professionals like any other life-threatening condition. Most medical providers do not view addiction treatment as part of their job, so people who use drugs are often stigmatized, sometimes treated for other conditions, and sent on their way with a list of often inaccessible specialty addiction clinics. Our goal is to transform addiction treatment by ensuring that every hospital in California provides 24/7 access to evidence-based care.”

    > LEARN MORE

  • Addiction Neuroscience 101 – A Video Every Policymaker Should Watch

    Addiction Neuroscience 101 – A Video Every Policymaker Should Watch

    In this excellent video from the HMA Institute on Addiction, Dr. R. Corey Waller describes the research on the brain science behind addiction and the implications for public policy change (20 minutes into the video). He says, “In the criminal justice world, we have to stop criminalizing patients for having a disease that we have a treatment for. We know that that behavior can be defined based on craving. We know that that craving can be seen on a functional MRI. We know that it’s greater than starving and dehydration. And most importantly we know we have treatments for this. So to take someone who has very obvious behaviors of addiction and put them in jail with no treatment doesn’t make any sense.”

    > Watch the video.

  • California Senate OKs Measure to End Mandatory Prison Sentences for Nonviolent Drug Offenders

    California Senate OKs Measure to End Mandatory Prison Sentences for Nonviolent Drug Offenders

    In the news April 17, 2021, the California State Senate approved a bill that ends mandatory prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders in California. This bill is waiting on approval by the Assembly and a signature from the governor to become law. Ending mandatory sentences will help those with substance use disorder to get the help that they need without punishing them. Supporters note mandatory minimum sentencing laws have disproportionately affected marginalized communities. >Read More