Summary

Substance use risks are significantly higher for people who obtain drugs on the unregulated market as there is no quality control and drug contents are unpredictable. This lack of predictability has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as supply chains have been disrupted by border closures and safety measures. This leaves people who use drugs (PWUD) increasingly susceptible to consuming adulterated or unfamiliar substances. In some regions, COVID safety measures have also reduced capacity and access to services for PWUD, making it more difficult to prevent and address the health...

Naloxone is a drug that can reverse the effects of opioid drugs like heroin, methadone, opium, codeine, morphine and buprenorphine, and is an important aid in preventing drug-related deaths.

Overdose deaths are often witnessed and can be prevented by the people who are most likely to come into contact with someone using substances carrying naloxone kits.

This article explores 5 needs in the relation to take-home naloxone:

1. the need for strong science;
2. our improved understanding of opioid overdose and deaths;
3. the search for greater impact from our policies and interventions;
4. developing...

One of the most serious public health concerns in recent decades has been the opioid epidemic in the United States (US). Over 9.9 million Americans aged 12 and up abused prescription pain drugs in 2018, and roughly 2 million Americans were diagnosed with opioid use disorder. In 2019, 49,860 drug overdose deaths (70.6 percent of all drug overdose deaths) were caused by opioid use and abuse. The opioid crisis has a huge influence on healthcare expenses and expenditures, in addition to the appalling toll on morbidity and death.

Previous studies on the expenses and expenditures of healthcare for...