ISSUE
Substance Use
Nearly half of Americans know someone who has experienced a drug overdose. In fact, deaths from drug overdose now outnumber fatal car accidents, contributing to the first sustained drop in life expectancy in the U.S. in decades.
Big city public health officials are on the front lines of this epidemic, implementing solutions to prevent addiction and misuse, connect those in need to treatment, and share education with patients, health care providers and the community.
Policy recommendations
Local communities need additional funding to ensure overdose prevention efforts can stem the tide of drug-related injury and death. Big city health departments are among the first to detect emerging drug trends, identify inequities in fatal and non-fatal overdoses, pinpoint hot spots, fund and provide supportive services rooted in reducing harm to individuals using, hold systemwide convenings, and implement quality improvement initiatives.
We need to take action on opioids
Download the brief We need to take action on opioidsHow public health departments address the opioid crisis
Download the background brief How public health departments address the opioid crisis
Policy Brief
Expand access to medications for opioid use disorder
An estimated 2.5 million Americans live with opioid use disorder but only a fraction receive medication treatment to support their health and recovery. A safe, effective treatment is available – methadone – but too many barriers stand between providers and the people who need their services. We urge Congress to pass the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act, which would pull down these barriers and save lives.
Data
Drug overdose deaths in big cities rose more than threefold in past decade
New data shows that lives lost to drug overdoses in big cities increased more than three-fold over the last decade, with the impact felt most disproportionately by Black Americans.
Member spotlight
Frontline Blog
Philadelphia’s response to the drug overdose crisis
“The progress the city has made, and its plans for the future, serve as a model for other parts of the country wrestling with the opioid epidemic.”
