Publications and Digital Products

Monitoring the distribution and impact of opioid overdose reversal medications such as naloxone is essential to optimizing overdose prevention strategies and improving public health outcomes. This Statistical Data Profile, the first to use performance data from two SAMHSA grant programs, examines the distribution of FDA-approved opioid overdose reversal medications, including naloxone/Narcan. The Data Profile also presents the training of first responders, community organization staff and other individuals to administer the reversal medications and provide other support services.

This report presents data from DAWN using national estimates and trends of opioid-involved emergency department (ED) visits in the United States, including those involving prescription opioids, fentanyl, heroin, and opioids not otherwise specified.

Find data on the nonuse of substances among adolescents aged 12 to 17 from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Estimates include illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco products, and nicotine vaping.

Opioid misuse and use disorders among older adults are a growing public health problem that is often overlooked and undertreated. This increasing misuse and need for treatment can be attributed to several cultural, physiological, and systemic influences. This brochure discusses age-appropriate OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery approaches and provides key facts, considerations, program examples, and resources.

Innovative and Holistic Programs that Offer Medications for Opioid Use Disorder to Pregnant and Parenting Women Issue Brief highlights two SAMHSA-funded grant programs—E-MOMS and KS HEART—to illustrate the implementation of critical service elements for women’s Substance Use Disorder/Opioid Use Disorder (SUD/OUD) treatment in two states.

Mobile Medication Units and Health Clinics Issue Brief demonstrates how these models can provide better access in communities where obstacles to receiving care exist and can support continuity of services, thus serving an important role in addressing the opioid crisis; highlights efforts in two states; and provides recommendations and lessons learned for offering mobile services.

Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: An Effective Treatment for Justice-Involved Persons Reentering the Community Brief Reference Document explores how Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) treatment for justice-involved individuals will help lower the overdose risk for people reentering the community. It discusses treatment barriers, strategies to address them, and key reentry services to promote the successful reintegration of people returning to the community from incarceration.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) National Estimates from Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits, 2023 report provides weighted national estimates. The frequency of substance-related visits increased by 5.8 percent compared to estimates in 2022. Rates of all substance-related ED visits from participating hospitals were highest among individuals with the following characteristics: males (2,668 per 100,000), individuals who were not Hispanic or Latino (2,391 per 100,000), and Black individuals, after accounting for the underlying population (4,053 per 100,000 versus 1,736 per 100,000 in the next highest subpopulation). The top substances reported were alcohol, cannabis, opioids, methamphetamines, cocaine, and benzodiazepines.

This manual provides guidelines for operating an opioid treatment program. It covers patient-centered care planning, assessment, admission, and monitoring; medication administration and use; medical and clinical provisions and practices; certification and accreditation; and the importance of practitioner judgment in providing care.

This report provides important insights into the effectiveness of high-dose buprenorphine for treating opioid use disorder, especially among individuals exposed to high-potency synthetic opioids.