This is an academic article that highlights that, although access to syringe service programs is vital during the coronavirus pandemic, many of these organizations have had to close their doors. Leveraging these organizations to address the dual impact of the opioid crisis and the pandemic is discussed.  

This paper outlines the relationship between stigma and opioid use disorder and explains how this has impacted treatment provision and harm reduction. The authors used a framework to identify sources of opioid related stigma on the macro, meso, and micro level. The authors also provide potential policy suggestions for how to reduce these impacts of stigma. 

This academic paper assesses the impact of COVID-19 in a sample of individuals who use drugs in rural Illinois through qualitative surveys and interviews. The authors findings emphasize the importance of ensuring access to harm reduction services, including overdose prevention and drug checking for this vulnerable population. 

This is a report from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University that discusses the benefits of syringe service programs (SSP), including decreased infectious disease transmission, linkage to treatment and over services such as naloxone distribution, criminal diversion, and decreased needles in public areas. Recommendations and best practices are made for Indiana SSPs and barriers to implementation are discussed. 

This issue brief from NASTAD gives an overview of the impact of HIV and Hepatitis C in the context of the opioid crisis. Additionally, recommendations are made to implement a comprehensive response at the intersection of these devastating and deadly epidemics. 

This paper describes the Post Overdose Support Team (POST), a person-centered initiative led by Massachusetts harm reductionists in health and human services agencies in collaboration with municipal first responders. POST teams conduct home-based outreach with individuals who experienced an opioid-related overdose, providing a menu of services including naloxone rescue kits, overdose response and risk reduction planning, referral to treatment for substance use disorders including medication for opioid use disorder, and referral to recovery and family supports.

The Network for Public Health Law is a website that gives guidance on legal and policy solutions. This link is specific to resources for substance use prevention and harm reduction. 

This research brief examines relationships between indicators of economic opportunity and the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use in the United States. It also explains that overall, areas with lower economic opportunities are disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis, but the extent of that relationship varies regionally.

This issue brief focuses on the opioid crisis in rural and small communities in the United States. It presents evidence on urban-rural differences in overdose mortality across geography and type of opioid. It also graphically shows states with rural populations that have the highest overdose death rates, identifies rural challenges and recommends strategies. 

This is a 2017 Congressional Research Service report describing which federal agencies are funding opioid-related programs.

This report from Johns Hopkins contains specific, proven recommendations for how to most effectively combat the opioid crisis –from allowing physicians to more effectively treat those suffering from addiction; to expanding coverage and accessibility of opioid overdose reversal drugs like naloxone; to changing the way that health care professionals, employers, and advocates talk about addiction to reduce stigma.

This brief from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center examines the United States opioid crisis, analyzing trends in overdose deaths from heroin and other opioids, such as prescription painkillers. Using vital statistics data, it also looks at differences in opioid deaths by age, sex, race/ethnicity and urbanization.