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Higher Buprenorphine Doses Associated With Improved Retention in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
Individuals with opioid use disorder who were prescribed a lower buprenorphine dose were 20% more likely to discontinue treatment than those on a higher dose, according to a study of patients prescribed buprenorphine in Rhode Island from 2016 to 2020, as fentanyl became widely available. The...
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Reported Drug Use Among Adolescents Continued to Hold Below Pre-Pandemic Levels in 2023
The percentage of adolescents reporting they used any illicit substances in 2023 continued to hold steady below the pre-pandemic levels reported in 2020, with 10.9% of eighth graders, 19.8% of 10th graders, and 31.2% of 12th graders reporting any illicit drug use in the past year, according...
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Men Died of Overdose at 2-3 Times Greater a Rate Than Women in the U.S. In 2020-2021
Men were significantly more vulnerable than women to overdose deaths involving opioid and stimulant drugs in 2020-2021, according to a new study analyzing death records data from across the United States. The study found that men had a 2–3 times greater rate of overdose mortality from opioids...
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Only 1 in 4 Adolescent Treatment Facilities Offer Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
Only 1 in 4 residential addiction treatment facilities caring for U.S. adolescents under 18 years old offer buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, according to a new study. Only 1 in 8 offer buprenorphine for ongoing treatment. These findings highlight a significant gap in...
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Still Reaching: The Syndemics that Complicate and Characterize How Drugs and HIV Intersect in People’s Lives
Nearly 42 years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a rare pneumonia in five gay men, marking the recognized start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While we often hear about those men’s sexuality, we hear less often about their substamce use. As the 1981 report notes,...
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Increased Use of Telehealth for OUD Services During COVID-19 Pandemic Associated With Reduced Risk of Overdose
The expansion of telehealth services for opioid use disorder (OUD) during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with individuals staying in treatment longer and reducing their risk of medically treated overdose, according to a new study. Published today in JAMA Psychiatry, this study was a...
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A State Agency’s Role in Supporting Housing and Employment within Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery
Historically, the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment service delivery system has operated within an episode of care, with separate programs and unrelated options. There has been an evolution towards developing a continuum of care for substance use disorder treatment and recovery services. These...
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Safe, Stable Housing and Employment Are Key Social Determinants of Health, and Critical for Recovery!
Safe and stable housing, together with appropriate employment, are important determinants of mental and physical health. For people who are living with mental illness, housing and employment can play a critical role in their journeys towards recovery. Governor Hochul has long recognized the...
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The Integrated Role of Housing and Employment in Recovery
When you think of recovery, you often think of what we would consider our social determinants of health: financial stability, housing and surrounding environment, health care access, education, and social connections. When a person is doing well in all these domains, they generally thrive and...
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Finding the Perfect Fit with Peer Support: Navigating Employment with Mental Illness
Searching for the right job, or even any job, can be stressful for weeks, months, or even years. The challenges may not even stop after obtaining gainful employment. They can bleed into maintaining that job, which then shields us from engaging in the stressful job search process. These challenges...
