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Collaborative Impact Needed for the Opioid Epidemic
Acacia Network, the leading Latino integrated care nonprofit in NY, began in 1969 to address the consequences of heroin in the South Bronx. Our founding leaders, Carlos Pagan, Julio Martinez, Gumersindo Martinez, Hector Diaz, Evalina Lopez Antonetty, and Lorraine Montengreo, among others,...
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Addressing Behavioral Health and Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care Settings
The Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness (SIPCW) is a non-profit organization established to promote wellness and to improve the health of the Staten Island community through collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach. For more than 20 years, SIPCW has addressed critical public...
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A Person-Centered Approach to Substance Use: Lessons from the Barbershop
When you walk into your favorite barbershop or hair salon to get a shape-up, a trim, or a new look, what happens? Likely you’re greeted with smiles and welcoming words. If it’s a bit fancy, maybe an assistant offers you something to drink. Somebody takes your coat, offers you a seat. There is a...
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The NYSPA Report: Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder – Effective but Still Underutilized
As our society continues to struggle with opioid use disorders and diversion of opioid pain medication, several strategies here in New York State have proven helpful. The duty to consult the online Prescription Monitoring Program prior to prescribing controlled substances has resulted in a 90% drop...
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The Opioid Epidemic: Expanding Access to Medicated Assisted Treatment
The Researched Abuse, Diversion, and Addiction-Related Surveillance (RADARS) System describe the diversion and abuse of prescription opioid analgesics, using data from January 2002 through December 2013. Because drug abuse is an illegal activity that is often concealed from authorities, the RADARS...
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Treating Individuals with Both Opioid Addiction and Mental Illness
As we work to address the nation’s opioid crisis, we must recognize that a disproportionate share of prescription painkillers is being consumed by people with anxiety and depression. We at the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) are partnering with the Office of Alcohol and Substance...
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Joint Senate Task Force on Opioids, Addiction and Overdose Prevention Testimony
In 1804, Frederich Serturner experimented with opium and created something new—morphine—named after the Greek god of sleep and dreams, Morpheus. More than 200 years later, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers fall asleep at night under the influence of an opioid. Every morning, a few of...
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Integration of Naloxone Distribution in a Federally Qualified Health Center
As the opioid epidemic has become a growing public health crisis in New York and the greater United States, it is incumbent upon health care centers to expand our ability to treat those in need. As of one the largest Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in New York State, providing integrated...
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Today’s Opioid Addiction and Overdose Epidemic: How We Can Make a Difference
The opioid addiction and overdose epidemic that has ravaged America for two decades now has left almost no one untouched. From 1999 to 2017, more than 400,000 people in the United States have died from overdoses related to opioids. According to a poll by the American Psychiatric Association,...
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Mental Health Services and Opioid Use and Dependence: A Non-Sequitur?
What does mental health have to do with mitigating the opioid epidemic? Isn’t it a problem for substance disorder programs, or addiction doctors? Well not really, if you consider the rates of opioid use and opioid use disorder (OUD) in patients seen in the community-based, non-profits in NYS...
