How State-Based Policy Can Drive Positive Change and Innovative Solutions in the Age of Fentanyl

Thursday, April 13, 2023

9:45 AM – 11:00 AM

Location: Grand Ballroom Section ABCD - OMNI

Presenter(s)

Jennie B. Jarrett, PharmD, BCPS, MMedEd, BCACP, FCCP

Research Assistant Professor / Director of Science and Drug Policy
University of Illinois Chicago / American Medical Association
University of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Gordon H. Smith, JD

Director of Opioid Response
State of Maine
E. Winthrop, ME

Moderator(s)

Marci Hertz, MS

Associate Director of Program Implementation, Division of Overdose Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Georgia

This session will highlight the roles, positive and otherwise, that state policy plays in providing solutions to the continuing drug overdose epidemic. Particular focus will be spent on how policymakers — and clinicians in the field — have tried to address the increasingly deadly effects of illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Attendees will be provided specific examples of innovative responses made possible by changes in state and federal policy, including how those responses have affected drug-related mortality and recovery.

Learning Objectives:

Outline Maine’s experience in establishing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated approach linking prevention, treatment, harm-reduction, and recovery support in response to the opioid/overdose epidemic
Describe the challenges involved in implementing a statewide, data-driven, comprehensive approach to treating addiction in an era dominated by fentanyl
Explain utilizing state funds for increasing access to treatment and harm reduction for patients with opioid use disorder
Evaluate service feasibility and outcomes from a mobile medical and opioid treatment program