How can you best position your community to sustain your overdose prevention efforts? Below are some ways to guide your thinking about strategies to sustain your current efforts and position your community to utilize the opioid settlement funds.

Utilize this tool to develop a persuasive narrative of your coalition’s work and community impact.

Utilize this tool to create an impactful narrative for crafting an impact message of your coalition’s work.

This page offers background information and tips for providers to keep in mind while using person-first language, as well as terms to avoid to reduce stigma and negative bias when discussing addiction. Although some language that may be considered stigmatizing is commonly used within social communities of people who struggle with substance use disorder (SUD), clinicians can show leadership in how language can destigmatize the disease of addiction.

Harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. Harm Reduction is also a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs.

Harm reduction strategies and tools should be accessible to everyone – regardless of location, time and or experience. National Harm Reduction Coalition offers a series of self-paced online learning modules that groups and individuals can complete on their own schedule and terms – anytime, anywhere.

The National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) offers evidence-based strategies that reduce the risk of dying from an overdose. It aims to support people who use drugs, and the people who love people who use drugs, with information to mitigate the risk of an overdose and to stop an overdose while it’s happening.

Most overdose deaths are preventable, but the "tough on crime" rhetoric of the decades-long drug war and the stigma associated with drug use have blocked the widespread adoption of life-saving overdose prevention and treatment policies. The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is leading the national effort to reduce drug overdose deaths by promoting sensible, evidence-based solutions at the state and federal level.

The CDPH Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch (SAPB) has recently updated this preliminary statewide monthly count data. It is presented by substance and posted on the Overdose Prevention Initiative (OPI) Data webpage. These counts may not represent all overdose-related deaths that occurred during the corresponding period. Subsequent versions of this data resource will also be available on the OPI Data webpage. The CDPH team continues to update the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard with death data.

Use this toolkit from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to share information about the risks of fentanyl and how to prevent overdose.

Throughout history, the AMA has always followed its mission: to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. As the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care, the AMA delivers on this mission by representing physicians with a unified voice in courts and legislative bodies across the nation, removing obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises, and driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care and training the leaders of tomorrow.

The Network for Public Health Law provides visionary leadership in the use of law to protect, promote and improve health and health equity. We provide non-partisan legal technical assistance and resources, collaborating with a broad set of partners across sectors to expand and enhance the use of practical legal and policy solutions.

Access to naloxone isn’t just a funding issue. Barriers to accessing low-cost naloxone are a result of the decades-long war on drugs. This organization is working to eliminate barriers from three different angles: distribution, technical assistance, and research.

The Chicago Recovery Alliance (CRA) is a racially and ethnically diverse group composed of people living with HIV and drug use, working in addiction treatment, healthcare, education, law and other assorted areas. CRA is unique as an organization in that our work entails building one-on-one relationships with individuals affected by HIV and drug use and provide them with a wide array of options for achieving any positive change as they define it for themselves. CRA is an organization for those interested in directly serving, supporting, educating and advocating with others for reducing drug related harm.

The CDPH Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch (SAPB) has recently updated its new data resource - Preliminary Monthly Fatal Drug-Related Overdose Counts for April 2021 - March 2022. This preliminary statewide monthly count data is presented by substance and posted on the Overdose Prevention Initiative (OPI) Data webpage. It is intended to provide death data to our partners more quickly. These counts may not represent all overdose-related deaths that occurred during the corresponding period. Subsequent versions of this data resource will also be available on the OPI Data webpage. The CDPH team continues to update the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard with death data.

The California Emergency Medical Services Authority (CEMSA) has implemented ODMap statewide. Since 2020, CEMSA has logged over 145,000 non-fatal overdoses and over 12,000 fatal overdoses into ODMap, which provides a heavy source of data to go off of for future reference. A reminder that this is just one agency logging overdoses and does not reflect the entire state and other agencies who are not part of CEMSA and are continually logging overdoses onto ODMap every day. There is still a push for full statewide ODMap implementation with other agencies, but this is a step in the right direction.

California Harm Reduction Initiative (CHRI), funded by the California Department of Public Health and led by National Harm Reduction Coalition includes a Point In Time (PIT) survey as a part of its evaluation. All 37 syringe services program grantees collect information from participants twice a year, and this highlights a lot of important things about participants experiences with overdose, drug use and access to services.

There is no one-size-fits-all strategy to changing health behaviors. We approach every challenge through a data-driven lens, bringing together topic research and audience insights to develop tailored behavior change campaigns.

Racial disparities in arrest rates for drugs are a well-documented (and lived) reality. For decades, drug policy has contributed to skyrocketing incarceration rates among minority populations. This video looks at the reasons behind these disparities, and what must be done to achieve improvements in health and racial equity.

This video describes the dangers of using "new marijuana" or “wax,” an altered version of cannabis that is mixed with other, more lethal substances. It shows how this more intense version of THC can negatively impact youth and their brain development.