Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association

.@samhsagov has released a timely new advisory, "Expanding Behavioral Health Teams in Care Deserts With Community Health Workers and Peer Support Specialists," highlighting the critical role peers play in closing gaps in access to care. library.samhsa.gov/product/adviso…

The Legal Action Center (@lac_news) has released a guide on how to best protect individuals with SUD and formerly incarcerated individuals from losing Medicaid coverage under H.R. 1's work reporting requirements. lac.org/resource/prote…

A group of senators sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Makary recommending scheduling action of the whole Kratom leaf and 7-OH under the Controlled Substances Act. ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-rel…

Researchers at the @uofcincy found that administering weekly injectable extended-release buprenorphine for treatment of OUD during pregnancy led to higher rates of abstinence from illicit opioids than daily sublingual buprenorphine. jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai…

The DEA has emergency scheduled the novel benzodiazepine bromazolam as a Schedule I controlled substance. For more information on bromazolam, check out LAPPA's factsheet on the substance. dea.gov/press-releases… legislativeanalysis.org/novel-psychoac…

.@virginia_tech researchers are advancing a new generation of vaccines designed to block opioids from reaching the brain and triggering their addictive effects. news.vt.edu/articles/2026/…

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics has released a new report titled “Drugs Most Frequently Involved in Drug Overdose Deaths: United States, 2017–2023,” which provides a detailed look at drug overdose deaths across the country over a 7-year period. blogs.cdc.gov/nchs/2026/03/0…

LAPPA is excited to announce the publication of three new model acts: the Model Addressing Drug Diversion in Healthcare Settings Act; the Automatic License Plate Recognition System Act; and the State Office of Drug Control Policy Act. legislativeanalysis.org/model-laws/

Opioid overdose deaths fell sharply from 2023 to 2024, driven largely by decreases in fentanyl-involved deaths, but even after these declines, deaths remained above 2019 levels. @KFF @KFFHealthNews kff.org/mental-health/…

Approximately 27% of opioid overdose deaths in the US in 2022 occurred among individuals recently released from carceral settings. Expanding access to MAT to people in custody and those recently released could prevent a substantial portion of those deaths onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ad…

The @US_FDA has missed a congressionally mandated deadline to publish a list of known cannabinoids as federal hemp laws are set to change later this year in a way that stakeholders argue will upend the existing market. marijuanamoment.net/fda-misses-dea…

In at least 70,000 cases in 21 states, parents were referred to law enforcement agencies over allegations of substance use during pregnancy, according to six years of state and federal data obtained and published for the first time by the @MarshallProj cbsnews.com/news/mothers-p…

.@samhsagov recently distributed $794 million in block grant funding across the United States and territories for community mental health services and substance abuse treatment and prevention. hhs.gov/press-room/sam…

The @DEAHQ has announced the seizure of more than 200 website domains tied to an India-based transnational criminal organization working within the US and allegedly responsible for at least six fatal and four non-fatal overdoses. dea.gov/press-releases…

DEA recognizes its success in combatting drug cartels and saving lives in 2025. dea.gov/press-releases…

HHS announced that it will devote $100 million toward a pilot program addressing homelessness and substance use disorder in eight cities. apnews.com/article/trump-…

President Trump signed an Executive Order creating the White House Great American Recovery Initiative, which establishes a task force that will advise agencies on how to steer grants toward prevention, treatment, recovery housing, and re-entry programs. whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/20…

A new study published in @JAMANetworkOpen and authored by experts at @RTI_Intl, an independent scientific research institute, has found that many opioid treatment programs (OTPs) across the U.S. are struggling to keep patients engaged. rti.org/news/medicaid-…

.@AmerMedicalAssn has released its 2025 report on the nation’s overdose epidemic, showing that while opioid-related overdose deaths declined last year, the epidemic remains widespread and increasingly complex. ama-assn.org/press-center/a…

Federal data released Wednesday showed that overdose deaths have been falling for more than two years — the longest drop in decades — but also that the decline was slowing. apnews.com/article/overdo…