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New ORN Resource Highlights Innovative Programs and Activities Resulting from Opioid Response Grants

The National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), an ORN partner, has summarized how states and territories are using State Targeted Response/State Opioid Response funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These grants are helping increase access to medications for people with opioid use disorder and supporting the continuum of prevention, harm reduction and recovery support services. NASADAD compiled this information within an interactive map to highlight effective, innovative strategies in place across the country, best practices and lessons learned. Within they also analyze common strategies and services states and territories have deployed. Learn more.

Four Medical Schools Participating in COPE's Curriculum Innovation Challenge

The Coalition on Physician Education in Substance Use Disorders (COPE), an ORN partner, has just announced that four medical schools are now participating in the COPE Curriculum Innovation Challenge: Innovative Learning and Teaching About Substance Use/ Opioid Use Disorders 2.0. This ORN-funded initiative supports teams from medical schools across the country in creating innovative approaches for integrating addiction medicine content into clinical experiences. This effort will foster engagement and collaboration between addiction physician experts, medical school faculty and medical students using cutting-edge concepts and training tools. The medical schools involved include the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the Kansas University Medical Center and the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Learn more.

Illicit Fentanyl Use: M30 Pills

Novel and emerging opioid and stimulant exposures (NOSE) reports from ACMT

The American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT), an ORN partner, has released a new report from data obtained within their ToxIC Core Registry, an enhanced detection instrument to identify novel opioids and psychostimulants encountered by medical toxicologists during patient consultations and evaluations. Their data replicates trends revealing a dramatic increase in recreational use of illicit fentanyl. ACMT shares that, in the past 8 years, fentanyl has transitioned from a contaminant in other illicit opioid products to the most common opioid drug involved in opioid overdoses; fentanyl pills masquerade as legal and less potent opioids such as oxycodone; and medical toxicologists should be aware of the increasing prevalence. Learn more. 

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Webinar I Naloxone vs Fentanyl: Update for HIV Providers

TOMORROW! November 9, 2022 I 11-12 PM ET



Presenter: Jermaine Jones, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurobiology in Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has attributed the most recent wave of opioid overdose deaths to the increased use of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and its related analogs. The expanded availability of naloxone has become a principal opioid overdose harm reduction effort. However, anecdotal reports suggest that a greater amount of naloxone may be needed to reverse an overdose event in which fentanyl is a contributing drug. This presentation from the Northeast/Caribbean AETC Columbia HIV Behavioral Health Training Project in collaboration with ORN-partner the National Alliance for HIV Education and Workforce Development will discuss the interaction between naloxone and fentanyl and its implication for overdose harm reduction. Learn more.

Webinar I Collegiate Recovery: From Science to Policy

November 16, 2022 I 12-1 PM ET

Presenter: Noel Vest, PhD, Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

The Recovery Research Institute, an ORN partner, is sponsoring a webinar that will cover collegiate recovery programming. It will provide an overview of a study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse titled Collegiate Recovery Programming in the U.S.: An Implementation Science and Mixed Methods Study and introduce a socio-ecological model of collegiate recovery programming. This webinar will also contextualize individual and programmatic outcomes within a larger policy driven environment. Learn more.

Webinar I Stimulants 101

November 29, 2022 I 12-1 PM ET



Presenter: Annie Potter, MSN, MPH, NP, CARN-AP, Nurse Practitioner, Boston Medical Center, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine

This one-hour training from the Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction TTA, an ORN partner, is designed to provide an overview of stimulant use disorder for all healthcare organization staff including providers, nurses, counselors and other non-clinical staff. The training reviews stigma, identifying stimulant overdose, managing acute stimulant intoxication, de-escalation techniques and evidence-based treatment for people who use stimulants. Learn more.

Webinar I Zeroing in on Xylazine

November 30, 2022 I 5-6 PM ET

Presenter: Raagini Jawa, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor and Clinician Investigator, Pittsburgh Medical Center

This training from the Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction TTA, an ORN partner, will provide knowledge regarding xylazine, a CNS depressant, which has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths in the U.S. This training will discuss the physiologic effects of xylazine, manifestations of xylazine intoxication, overdose, communicable infections associated with xylazine use and wound care for persons injecting xylazine. Learn more.

Toolkit I Community Supervision and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

Research demonstrates that individuals involved with the legal system and on community supervision who have an opioid use disorder often do not receive the care needed to recover. Reasons include logistical barriers like transportation, lack of access to evidence-based treatments and stigma. This free online learning series from ORN-partner the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network was developed to help probation officers and treatment providers enhance client recovery during supervision. Available on demand. Learn more.

Webinar Series I Opioid Use Disorder and Stimulant Use Disorder Trainings Presented by Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses 

Reminder: This mini-series from ORN partner the American Psychiatric Nurses Association is still available on demand at no cost. This series for nurses covers opioid use disorder treatment; a primer on stimulant use disorder; content on substance-exposed pregnancies; content on understanding substance use in older adults; and more. Learn more.