Is this your first time at the Rx Summit, or are you a returning attendee looking to optimize your time at the conference? Join us for an informational session on getting the most out of your Rx Summit experience, including navigating the event venues, accessing conference information, selecting sessions, visiting special features onsite, and exploring the exhibit hall.

<b>Session Description</b>: Amid a surge in youth overdose deaths driven by illicit fentanyl, American schools remain dangerously underprepared. The National School Overdose Preparedness Campaign, led by the NFL Alumni Health (NFLAH) initiative in collaboration with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), and The Naloxone Project, is the first nationwide initiative to equip K–12 schools with the training, policies, and tools needed to respond to overdose emergencies and protect students.<br> <br>This session will introduce a multi-phase national strategy built on cross-sector collaboration, youth-centered messaging, and partnerships with education, health, and government leaders. Attendees will learn how the campaign engages trusted messengers—including former NFL athletes—to raise awareness, secure endorsements, and build infrastructure for naloxone access, staff training, and student education. Special focus will be placed on collaboration with the National PTA and the National School Boards Association (NSBA).<br> <br>Building on successful pilots in Colorado and Arizona, the campaign is now scaling nationally and engaging federal agencies and national organizations to support model school policies for naloxone access and overdose response, standardized legislative templates for state-level preparedness, training materials for school personnel and students, and interim strategies to address nursing scope-of-practice limitations.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session will showcase community-driven recovery ecosystem models that are advancing recovery in sustainable, system-wide ways—even amid fiscal constraint. We’ll begin by highlighting Kentucky’s Recovery-Ready Communities initiative, a statewide model that empowers localities to become certified as recovery-ready by building infrastructure across housing, employment, treatment, peer services, and local governance. This grassroots-led approach demonstrates how state policy and community readiness can reinforce each other.<br><br>Next, we’ll explore Palm Beach County, Florida’s opioid settlement investment strategy and the region’s innovative Recovery-Oriented System of Care (ROSC), designed to braid funding, engage local partners, and center recovery voices in decision-making. We will touch on themes from several other jurisdictions, including New Jersey and Maryland. <br><br>Finally, we will discuss an emerging National Framework for Recovery, a new federal-state-local effort led by Georgetown University, Shatterproof, Johns Hopkins, and Black Faces Black Voices to define, support, and scale recovery ecosystems across the country.<br><br>Panelists will offer practical strategies for sustaining recovery services—whether through local innovation, braided funding streams, or building strong partnerships between government and community organizations. <br><br>This panel is designed for state and local leaders, funders, public health professionals, and advocates who want to build recovery ecosystems that are effective, efficient, and rooted in community values. Attendees will leave with concrete models, tools, and policy ideas that can be adapted to their own states and regions—regardless of political affiliation.

<b>Session Description</b>: Fake pills (also called counterfeit, falsified, pressies, fakies, cut, laced) are illicitly manufactured products that look like FDA-approved medications but instead contain substances such as illicit fentanyl, methamphetamine, or no active substance at all. Composition and availability of these unregulated products are constantly evolving, posing serious public health challenges. This symposium will address the current landscape of what we know about fake pills, as well as the ongoing challenges, from a variety of data sources including (1) efforts to standardize real-world data collection in the National Poison Data System (NPDS), (2) an exploratory, mixed-methods study investigating fake pill awareness and use among members of the Behavioral Health Research Panel (BHRP; a voluntary opt-in research panel of adults assessed for substance use), (3) an online behavioral drug survey of the general population, the Survey of Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs (NMURx), and (4) laboratory testing findings from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Implications for surveillance and public health messaging regarding the dangers associated with fake pill use will be discussed.

<b>Session Description</b>: In 2017, Hamilton County experienced a devastating 570 overdose deaths. By 2025, the county achieved a remarkable 51% decrease, thanks largely to the strategic, deflection-focused programming spearheaded by the Hamilton County Office of Addiction Response and Heroin Task Force. This milestone reflects the power of cross-sector planning, collaboration, and innovative approaches to combating the overdose crisis.<br>In 2023 the Hamilton County Heroin Task Force introduced an Overdose Fatality Review Liaison Task Force Officer to conduct next-of-kin interviews. These interviews inform overdose fatality reviews, providing actionable recommendations to enhance the county’s continuum of care for individuals and families impacted by substance use disorder.<br><br>In 2025, Hamilton County launched a groundbreaking family support pilot program funded by a STATE COSSUP Grant Award. This initiative established a dedicated unit within the Hamilton County Quick Response Teams (QRT), comprising a family support officer, navigator, and counselor. The QRT defines deflection as any intervention that defects individuals from the criminal justice system and into care, while also ensuring that families are not left behind. The program employs a two-pronged approach: supporting families of individuals actively battling addiction and offering grief support to those who have lost loved ones to overdose or substance use.<br><br>This session will explore the development, implementation, and outcomes of Hamilton County’s family support initiatives, highlighting best practices and lessons learned. Attendees will gain insights into how deflection programming can transform communities and foster comprehensive support systems for both individuals and their families.

<strong>Session Description</strong>: Suicide is a major public health concern and a leading cause of death in the US. In 2020, suicide was the 12th leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of over 45,900 people. Knowing the warning signs for suicide and how to get help can help save lives. Alcohol and opioid use disorders significantly increase risk for suicidal ideation, attempts, and death, and are the two most frequently implicated substances in suicide risk. Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) are particularly susceptible to suicide and suicide attempts as suicide is a leading cause of death among people who misuse alcohol and drugs This training will explore the signs to look out for when working in the field and identify evidence-based practices to help break the silence.<br /><br />

Speakers and session details to be announced soon.

<b>Session Description</b>: Youth may use substances to help cope with mental health challenges like stress, anxiety, and depression, and ongoing use can lead to a substance use disorder. Substance use can lead to worsening mental health and contribute to the development of some mental health conditions.1<br>Breaking the stigma surrounding mental health and substance use can help prevent overdose deaths and encourage more young people to seek the support they need.2 <br><br>To prevent substance use initiation among youth, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created two important products. The Free Mind campaign, was created through research and real conversations with youth, parents, and caregivers. Through these conversations, CDC identified a need to address the connection between substance use and mental health among youth ages 12-17. The second product, ENGAGE: Evidence-Based Strategies to Prevent Youth Substance Use, contains effective strategies and approaches to help local, community, state, and other organizations plan for and implement a wide range of prevention activities that can be tailored to address specific community needs.<br><br>This presentation will describe both CDC products. First, attendees will learn about the development of ENGAGE and the six evidence-based strategies that communities can implement. Next, it will focus on two Free Mind interactive learning experiences where attendees will learn how to tailor and implement campaign messaging to educate youth on specific risks related to drug use, substance use disorder, and overdose and articulate the impacts that mental and behavioral health issues have on youth as they relate to drug use.

<b>Session Description</b>: We will explore the intersection of faith, peer support, and harm reduction, highlighting the importance of incorporating spiritual beliefs and community connections in the journey towards recovery. By combining the principles of faith-based support with evidence-based harm reduction strategies, individuals facing substance use challenges can find strength, hope, and understanding in a supportive peer network. This multiple pathway approach recognizes the diverse needs of individuals and emphasizes the power of faith and community in promoting healing and resilience.

<b>Session Description</b>: Only about a quarter of adults with a past-year opioid use disorder (OUD) received medication for it, highlighting the need for federal, state, and local policymakers to develop new avenues for reaching individuals in need. Individuals experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms, either due to ceasing opioids (spontaneous withdrawal) or receiving an opioid antagonist to reverse an overdose (precipitated withdrawal) may need medication for OUD but often do not receive it. <br><br>An emerging way to reach these individuals in need is for emergency medical service (EMS) clinicians (paramedics and EMTs) to provide buprenorphine induction in the prehospital or mobile care setting, such as at the scene of an overdose or as part of a community paramedicine program. In recent years, EMS agencies across the country began such programs (“EMS-Bup programs”). Studies from established EMS-BUP programs show that, in addition to being safe, they are effective in connecting individuals to treatment and reducing the risk of future overdose.<br><br>Starting an EMS-Bup program involves the development of program infrastructure, treatment protocols, referral processes, data collection, and training. In addition, if not done so already, the law must change (either through statute, regulation, agency action(s), or executive order) to authorize an EMS clinician to carry and administer buprenorphine in prehospital/mobile care settings. <br><br>In 2025, the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy (LAPPA) developed a model state law that provides state legislators with a framework to encourage (not mandate) the development of EMS-Bup programs. In addition to requiring the appropriate state entity(ies) to authorize EMS clinicians to carry and administer buprenorphine, LAPPA’s model seeks to create a statewide model treatment protocol and model training program. At the same time, the model law still lets individual EMS agency medical directors retain their authority to tailor EMS-Bup programs to local needs and resources.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session will present practical tools advocates can use to make change in their communities to expand access to evidence-based responses to addiction and substance use disorder. In a rapidly changing federal landscape—with dramatic changes to SAMHSA, substantially less enforcement activity from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, and an estimated $1 trillion cut to Medicaid over the next decade—what tools do communities have to make positive change? We will discuss the work that is ongoing to pass bipartisan, common sense legislation that expands access to addiction treatment; federal litigation aimed at vindicating the civil rights of people with substance use disorder; and efforts to ensure that when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and state Medicaid offices implement the recently enacted work reporting requirements, people with substance use disorders can maintain access to their Medicaid coverage. Attendees will leave up to date on the latest work happening at the federal level and in courts across the country, and be provided tools to work with policy advocates, lawmakers, and litigators in their own communities to make positive change.

<b>Session Description</b>: The landscape of substance abuse in the United States is rapidly evolving with the emergence of new, highly potent synthetic substances. Among the most concerning are xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use, and nitazene compounds, a powerful class of synthetic opioids. Both substances are increasingly found in the illicit drug supply, often in combination with fentanyl, compounding their lethality and complicating overdose response efforts. This presentation explores the pharmacology, prevalence, and public health implications of xylazine and nitazene, with a particular focus on their contribution to rising overdose deaths.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session will review the latest scientific evidence on nicotine vaping and other novel products, focusing on use patterns, impacts on other drug use uptake, and impacts on tobacco smoking cessation. Evidence review will focus on how these impacts vary by age, substance use status, and sociodemographics. Research on the constituents that modulate the appeal and addiction liability of vaping products, such as benzoic and lactic acid and flavoring compounds, will also be reviewed. The session will conclude by discussing vaping regulatory policies that address flavorings and other additives that alter product pH and by extrapolating existing evidence to new and emerging non-combustible nicotine products, including nicotine pouches.

<p>Developed in Partnership with:<br><img src=https://naccme.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/26.BehavioralHealth.101/APA+D… alt="Upload Image" width="200" /></p>

<b>Session Description</b>: Join us for the Opening Plenary, a dynamic kickoff to the conference that brings together leading voices in healthcare, policy, and innovation. This program will feature opening remarks, a distinguished award presentation, and an engaging discussion with prominent leaders from major medical associations and organizations.<br><br>Gain valuable insights into the current landscape of medicine, public health, and the future of collaborative care as experts share perspectives on key issues shaping the field today.<br><br>Speakers will be announced soon!

<b>Session Description</b>: The Tennessee Dangerous Drugs Task Force (TDDTF) was established in 1999 and operates as part of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Drug Investigation Division. Since its establishment, the TDDTF has been at the forefront of innovative programs and initiatives designed to assist both law enforcement and the general public in addressing the escalating opioid and drug epidemic. The Task Force’s motto is "Protect, Enforce, and Educate."<br><br>Participants will have the opportunity to engage with a panel of experts from law enforcement, intelligence, prevention, and mental health fields. They will learn how to collaborate effectively with various state and local agencies and organizations to develop sustainable programs across the state.<br><br>The program will highlight successful statewide initiatives led by the TDDTF, including the quarterly Pill Take Back response, the Drug Endangered Children Alliance, the Handle with Care notification system, mobile drug testing for law enforcement agencies, the intelligence and overdose reporting system, and comprehensive training and education programs.<br><br>Participants will gain practical strategies and insights into implementing the TDDTF model within their own communities at both the state and local levels.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session introduces an under recognized overdose risk pathway among individuals who use cocaine: unintentional fentanyl exposure due to substance misidentification, or what we call “powder and rock confusion.” Drawing on five years of fatal overdose data from King County, Washington, this presentation highlights a subset of deaths in which individuals with no known opioid use history died after using fentanyl believed to be cocaine. These cases are not the result of deliberate fentanyl-laced cocaine but reflect visual misidentification at the point of use or sale.<br><br>Participants will learn how to apply a scene-integrated toxicological framework to identify similar deaths in their own jurisdictions using available data sources such as toxicology, scene evidence, and substance use history. The session will also discuss how these findings can inform targeted harm reduction messaging, outreach strategies for stimulant-using populations, and clinical conversations with patients who do not report opioid use.<br><br>Takeaways include: a replicable method for identifying unintentional fentanyl deaths among presumed cocaine users; red flags to look for in toxicology and scene evidence; and public health messaging adaptations that acknowledge stigma and improve engagement. This presentation emphasizes the power of cross-sector collaboration between forensic professionals, public health agencies, and community partners to detect and respond to hidden overdose trends—ultimately saving lives.

<b>Session Description</b>: This presentation introduces the concept of harm reduction for clinicians, counselors, and other professionals working with people who use substances. We will share how to apply the principles of the larger, grassroots harm-reduction movement to clinical and counseling settings. Participants will be introduced to harm-reduction treatment―a pragmatic, evidence-based, person-centered approach designed to reduce substance-related harm and improve quality of life without requiring abstinence. We will show how harm-reduction treatment can extend and complement abstinence-based approaches to engage clients and patients who are not yet ready, willing, or able to commit to abstinence, thereby broadening what you can offer your clients and patients. The session will provide an overview of the concepts, scientific foundation, and clinical practices of harm-reduction treatment. Discussion will address common misconceptions, ethical and cultural considerations, and practical steps for incorporating harm-reduction treatment alone or alongside other treatment modalities. We will conclude with guidance on initiating supportive, nonjudgmental conversations about substance use that promote trust, collaboration, and meaningful change.

<p>Developed in Partnership with:<br><img src=https://naccme.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/26.BehavioralHealth.101/APA+D… alt="Upload Image" width="200" /></p>

<b>Session Description</b>: Hear directly from influential policymakers during this timely plenary session exploring the intersection of healthcare, legislation, and public policy. Congressional leaders and experts will discuss current priorities, recent developments, and future directions shaping national health initiatives and reform efforts.<br><br>Gain firsthand insights into how policy decisions impact practitioners, patients, and the broader healthcare system, and engage with perspectives that drive meaningful change across the field.<br><br>Speakers will be announced soon!

<b>Session Description</b>: While humor is a powerful tool in everyday life—reducing stress, improving health, and building connections—it is often overlooked or discouraged in behavioral health treatment settings. In this engaging and interactive session, attendees will explore how humor can be effectively used to support recovery from substance use and mental health challenges. Drawing on both research and lived experience, this session will challenge the assumption that recovery must always be serious. Instead, it offers an evidence-based argument for why laughter and lightness can be critical elements of healing.<br><br>Participants will examine how humor is sometimes viewed as a sign of denial or avoidance and why these perceptions can hinder engagement. Attendees will learn how to recognize appropriate uses of humor, adapt to individual client needs, and responsibly use humor to build rapport and promote emotional safety. This session includes demonstrations of humor techniques, discussions on boundary-setting, and strategies for cultivating connection in group and individual therapy.<br><br>Takeaways include: practical ways to use humor therapeutically, awareness of cultural and clinical considerations, and renewed permission to bring humanity and joy into the recovery process.

<b>Session Description</b>: The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) currently houses 20,369 inmates (ADOC Annual Legislative Statistical Report 2024). The Alabama Bureau of pardons and Paroles supervises 46,478(ABPP Annual Report 2024) justice involved individuals within the state of Alabama. Justice systems and Justice focused treatment providers face unique challenges in providing access to substance use treatment, the delivery of substance use treatment, the continuum of care, and the resources needed to support the recovery journey. This continuum provides an avenue for public health that results in public safety. A healthy community is a safe community. <br> Substance Use Treatment, medically assisted treatment, and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) is vital to the health and wellbeing of incarcerated populations as well to the successful reentry of the justice involved population with identified substance use disorder. <br>ADOC/ABPP has expanded resources to incorporate MOUD in the correctional and community supervision setting. The continuum of care from community supervision to incarceration and incarceration to community is key to the successful reintegration of our justice involved population. This replicable continuum model results in public safety throughout the communities we serve.

<b>Session Description</b>: Tennessee is transforming overdose prevention through strengthened cross-agency collaboration and real-time data integration. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) and the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) have developed a coordinated framework that aligns public health surveillance, outreach, and community engagement across the full continuum of substance use prevention. This partnership streamlines communication, shares data in real time, and enables quick, flexible responses to both prescription opioids and emerging illicit substances, including synthetic opioids beyond fentanyl, stimulants, and novel psychoactive compounds while providing timely training, tools, and stigma-reduction education to support local prevention efforts. <br><br>This session highlights the process of collaboration, including formal data-sharing agreements, co-located epidemiologic support, cross-sector working groups, and co-developed initiatives. Attendees will see actionable data products—dashboards, reports, and briefs—and learn how these tools guide adaptive prevention strategies. Through these efforts, Tennessee has seen a 5% reduction in overdose deaths from 2022–2023 and provisional 2024 data suggesting a 30.9% decline. By focusing on structure, coordination, and shared mechanisms, this presentation demonstrates a model for integrating data, programs, and expertise to maintain agility in responding to evolving substance use threats.

<b>Session Description</b>: Nitazenes are synthetic benzimidazole opioids and known for their potency, with contradictory evidenc noting potency as hundreds to thousands times more potent than morphine and other opioids, ten times more potent than fentanyl. Examples of such agents include butonitazene, flunitazene, protonitazene, etonitazene, etc. They have no approved use and have re-emerged in the drug supply since 2019. They are often added to fentanyl, heroin, and illicit benzodiazepines. They are not detected in a standard 10-panel urine drug screen, but have the same risks as other opioids, to include sedation, slowed breathing, decreased heart rate and blood pressure, overdose and death. This session will focus on a review of nitazenes to include pharmacology, epidemiology, expected effects, withdrawal management, pharmacological treatment strategies, and harm reduction efforts. Given the difficulty in testing for nitazenes, additional discussion will surround what symptoms to look out for when patients present to community or emergency settings along with the role psychiatric pharmacists can play in various treatment approaches.

<b>Session Description</b>: The diagnosis and treatment of Substance Use Disorders are the focus of much civil and criminal litigation regarding Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (F/W/A). These are reflected in the most recent years HHS/DOJ’s “Annual Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program. But beyond federal (and state) criminal and civil charges, private insurers and individuals are also involved in suits. While physicians generally understand issues of malpractice, F/W/A issues are different – and also impact owners and administrators of treatment programs and associated providers such as laboratories performing urine drug testing.<br><br>The presenters of this session are a physician and an attorney with extensive policy and practice expertise. Areas of discussion include areas of risk, ‘red flags’, how providers can assess and minimize their risk, and what litigators can do to understand areas of gross deviation from standards of treatment and billing. <br><br>While this session will focus on the areas of F/W/A, other medico-legal issues relevant to treatment providers and public safety and/or legal professionals will be discussed, including the medically legitimate ordering of services, prescribing of controlled substances, and billing for services.<br><br>Participant providers will leave the session with increased ability to understand and mitigate their risks. Participant funding organizations of treatment services will understand how to monitor and identify appropriate vs. inappropriate care and billing; while participant federal/state/local officials and attorneys will leave the session with improved understanding and ability to streamline assessment of potential cases of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in the diagnosis and treatment of Substance Use Disorders.

<b>Session Description</b>: Building on the concepts of harm reduction, this session offers clinicians, counselors, and other professionals who work with people who use substances some practical tools for applying harm-reduction strategies across diverse treatment, counseling and other behavioral health settings. Participants will learn how to assess and track substance-related harm, help patients and clients generate harm-reduction goals, and share safer-use strategies to help people immediately start taking steps towards reducing their harm. Through real-world case examples and demonstrations, we will show how harm-reduction tools can enhance engagement and promote positive outcomes among clients and patients who might otherwise not show up or be reluctant to engage. Importantly, harm-reduction tools can complement other abstinence-based and medication-assisted approaches in your practice. Participants will leave with practical skills, handouts, and conversation guides to use immediately in their clinical, counseling and other community-based work.

<p>Developed in Partnership with:<br><img src=https://naccme.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/26.BehavioralHealth.101/APA+D… alt="Upload Image" width="200" /></p>

<b>Session Description</b>: Adolescent cannabis use is associated with an elevated risk of mental and behavioral health disorders, including cannabis use disorder, anxiety, depression, and even psychosis. The expanding legalization of both medical and recreational cannabis, coupled with the increased availability of high-potency tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products, further heightens this concern. Adolescence represents a critical period of neurodevelopment, during which the endocannabinoid system plays a key role in the maturation of brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex. THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, can interfere with this developmental process, potentially leading to lasting neurobiological and behavioral consequences. Research on cannabis’ impact on the developing brain has exploded over the last decade. Therefore, this session will highlight the most current research findings on THC's impact on the adolescent brain, with a focus on the disruption of typical endocannabinoid system function and its implications for long-term brain and mental health.

<b>Session Description</b>: Illicit drug trends shift rapidly, challenging healthcare providers to stay informed and adapt treatment strategies accordingly. Since the late 2000s, synthetic and designer substances, known as novel psychoactive substances (NPS), have been fluctuating annually, creating challenges for routine drug testing and for clinicians trying to determine what a patient may have ingested. This session will explore the critical importance of tracking emerging drug patterns and how they evolve over time. It will also discuss the need for integrating that knowledge into patient care. Special attention will be given to the re-emergence of two high-risk substances that have been increasingly detected in toxicology reports since December 2024: carfentanil, an ultra-potent fentanyl analog, and fluorexetamine, a designer stimulant.<br>Through an examination of recent data and case examples, participants will gain a clearer understanding of how these substances appear in clinical settings, their presence in polydrug use, and the implications for diagnosis, overdose management, and treatment planning. Whether working in emergency medicine, behavioral health, addiction treatment, or primary care, clinicians will understand the utility of testing based on updated drug trends to help stay ahead of shifting drug landscapes and protect vulnerable patient populations.

<b>Session Description</b>: For nearly a decade, communities across the U.S. have been working closely with law enforcement and first responders to implement an innovative, comprehensive approach to address the complex issues of addiction: The Quick Response Team (or QRT). Developed in Ohio, the QRT model is now the most widely replicated model of overdose response in the United States. The premise of the QRT is simple. The Quick Response Team aligns resources that already exist in most communities, creating a network of support that spans systems and connects people to care. <br><br> <br><br>Although the QRT model has been widely adopted, there has been little research to understand its impact. In this session, presenters from two of Ohio’s most mature Quick Response Teams will present results from analyses of their respective programs. By cross-referencing data from QRTs with criminal justice records and hospital records, these QRTs were able to explore how engagement with their programs reduced individuals’ engagement with multiple systems in the community. This analysis indicates that programs like QRT have meaningful and significant outcomes: the QRT can reduce overdose deaths, improve community safety and produce significant cost savings for Medicaid. The presenters will explain the development of their work over time, and discuss the resources necessary to measure impact in a community collaboration. Finally, the panelists will describe the potential for system improvement and future cost savings with investments in data collection and law enforcement assisted diversion at scale.

<b>Session Description</b>: Connecting Kentuckians to Hope: The KY HELP Statewide Call Center Model <br>The KY HELP Statewide Call Center, staffed by Operation UNITE and funded by the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, is a vital resource for Kentuckians impacted by substance use disorders and their families. Launched in December 2017, the toll-free line (1-8338-KYHELP) serves as a compassionate and confidential access point for individuals and families seeking support, information, and connections to treatment. <br><br>This presentation will highlight the creation, structure, and evolution of the KY HELP line, which now operates seven days a week with extended hours. Staffed by trained Screening and Referral Specialists, the call center provides crisis support, treatment navigation, and ongoing outreach services for at least one year of post-contact. Email support is also available, expanding accessibility for those in need. <br><br>The session will also contextualize the call center’s impact against Kentucky’s substance use landscape. In 2021, Kentucky experienced a record 2,250 overdose deaths, but by 2024, this number declined to 1,410 — a 30.2% reduction. This session will explore how the KY HELP model supports individuals needing treatment and/or their families seeking treatment options for a loved one. <br><br>Attendees will gain insights into effective strategies for centralized resource coordination, crisis response, and how long-term support and help navigating barriers contribute to maintained sobriety. This model offers a replicable framework for other states working to combat addiction through proactive, human-centered care.

<b>Session Description</b>: Childhood trauma and toxic stress are well-documented upstream drivers of substance misuse, addiction, and poor mental health outcomes. In response, the Metro Nashville Public Health Department (MPHD) has launched the Resilient Communities and PACEs Education Program, a trauma-informed, community-based prevention initiative that equips individuals and systems with the tools to build protective factors and foster resilience.<br>This session will introduce participants to MPHD’s dual-pronged approach: (1) From Adversity to Hope, a science-based training curriculum grounded in Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences (PACEs), and (2) Resilience in Healthcare and Communities, a Train-the-Trainer model adopted by partners including the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Both components center on applying strengths-based strategies and HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) science to reduce the long-term impacts of early adversity.<br>The presentation will detail the structure, implementation, and evaluation of this program, which has trained over 400 professionals and certified 15 new facilitators. Emphasis will be placed on the model’s cultural responsiveness, cross-sector scalability, and alignment with public health goals to prevent substance misuse through early intervention and education. By fostering resilience in high-risk communities, MPHD aims to disrupt cycles of trauma and addiction while promoting sustainable, community-led wellness.

State alcohol and drug agency directors – also known as Single State Authorities – oversee the nation’s publicly funded prevention, treatment, and recovery system. These agencies develop State plans, oversee programming, and support providers across the continuum. In the process, State alcohol and drug agencies manage federal grants such as the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Servies (SUPTRS) Block Grant, State Opioid Response Grant (SOR), and others. This session will feature a presentation on the role of State alcohol and drug agencies and key federal grants supporting substance use disorders. In addition, the panel will feature two leaders of State alcohol and drug agencies discuss their systems and share how federal grants support service delivery.

Vision Sessions are non–CME presentations offered during the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit that provide attendees with opportunities to learn about innovative ideas, emerging technologies, and solutions from industry thought leaders and sponsors.<br><br>Additional details and speakers to be announced.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session will explore how opioid settlement funds are being allocated and utilized to address the ongoing addiction and overdose crisis. Expert panelists will examine strategies for maximizing the impact of these resources, promoting equitable distribution, and ensuring funds are directed toward sustainable prevention, treatment, and recovery initiatives.<br><br>Attendees will gain insights into national and state-level approaches, transparency efforts, and opportunities for collaboration among healthcare leaders, policymakers, and community organizations.<br><br>Speakers will be announced soon!

<b>Session Description</b>: Respite Housing is emerging as a vital recovery support service, bridging a dangerous gap between crisis and care. Whether someone is fleeing domestic violence, awaiting a detox or treatment bed, recently released from incarceration, or experiencing homelessness, Respite Housing provides a safe, low-barrier, recovery-oriented environment where individuals can stabilize and re-engage in services. This session will explore the implementation and measurable outcomes of Hustle Recovery, Inc.’s Respite Housing model in Tennessee and provide a detailed roadmap for replication in other regions.<br>Hustle Recovery’s Respite Housing has served over 300 individuals since its launch, with over 92% successfully transitioning into long-term/short term treatment, housing, or recovery programs. By offering immediate shelter, peer support, and structured case navigation, this model reduces emergency room utilization, prevents overdose deaths, and increases engagement in the recovery continuum.<br>Attendees will learn about essential partnerships with hospitals, jails, treatment providers, and courts, as well as funding strategies through grants, Medicaid, and community collaborations. The presentation will include implementation checklists, intake protocols, and outcome tracking systems. Attendees will leave equipped to establish their own Respite Housing program using evidence-based practices and adaptable frameworks.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session highlights two successful peer and police collaborative models aimed to address the opioid and addiction epidemic in Massachusetts and West Virginia. First, Plymouth County Outreach (PCO) in MA will discuss their multi-faceted collaborative and nationally recognized model uniting 27 municipal police departments with peer Recovery Coaches and community organizations to address the opioid epidemic. This session will detail PCO's innovative approach, including its core program where law enforcement partners with trained peer Recovery Coaches for post-overdose home visits and street outreach. This session will also introduce the Police and Peers (PNP) initiative in West Virginia, which embeds Peer Recovery Support Specialists (PRSS) with law enforcement to address social service needs during non-violent incidents. Police refer individuals with substance use disorder to PRSS, who, with lived experience, build trust and connect individuals to treatment and recovery services, diverting them from the criminal justice system<br><br>Attendees will gain practical insights into establishing and operating these collaborative models that provide compassionate, judgment-free support and connect to treatment and recovery resources. A key takeaway will be understanding the vital role of peer professionals—individuals in recovery with specialized training in de-escalation, case management, and motivational interviewing. These peers meet individuals "where they’re at," offering voluntary services, and connecting them to comprehensive support for basic needs and treatment navigation. The session will provide the audience with a "Peers and Policing Implementation Guide" based on best practices. This offers a replicable framework for communities to enhance their collaborative, peer-driven responses, fostering trust and reducing overdose fatalities.

<b>Session Description</b>: The New York City RxStat partnership was established in 2012 to bring together public health and public safety agencies to create data-driven policies and programs to reduce overdose deaths. Overdose prevention and response do not exist in isolation, but are interconnected stages in an ongoing cycle. Effective prevention makes response easier and less frequent, and effective response informs smarter prevention. <br>This session will highlight specific examples of how RxStat partners use their data and partnerships with each other to inform overdose prevention and response efforts in NYC, such as:<br>- Post Overdose Response Team: Use of New York Police Department non-fatal overdose response data to connect State Department of Health navigators with individuals at high risk of overdose to care; as well as expanded collaborative and targeted outreach between this team and NYPD to specific locations.<br>- Leave Behind Naloxone: Building upon the NYPD/DOH partnership, a Leave Behind Naloxone pilot has been implemented in the NYPD housing Police Service Areas (PSA) engaging with high risk individuals. <br>- Office of Chief Medical Examiner Drug Intelligence and Intervention Group: Use of suspected overdose death data to better understand the circumstances around overdose deaths to prevent future overdose deaths through Overdose Fatality Reviews and by providing support to the social networks of decedents who may also be at risk of substance misuse, overdose, or other risks. <br>- Cross-agency data monitoring: Specific examples of how NYC partners are sharing information to better understand overdose data and response to high need areas.

<b>Session Description</b>: This plenary session will provide an update on the evolving landscape of drug trafficking organizations and their impact on substance use trends, public health, and community safety. Expert presenters will discuss enforcement strategies and the shifting dynamics of illicit supply chains influencing the opioid and stimulant crises.<br><br>Speakers will be announced soon!

<b>Session Description</b>: Ten years ago, an article appeared in the September 2015 issue of IACP’s Police Chief magazine that would introduce a new word into the U.S. police and justice lexicon: deflection. Eventually, the word also would make its way into the public health world of drug treatment and recovery, as well as move into global usage. In the article, “Want to Reduce Drugs in Your Community? You Might Want to Deflect Instead of Arrest,” author Jac Charlier described a model of crime reduction and crime prevention in which police would “deflect” people who use drugs to substance use treatment rather than arresting and charging them, thereby addressing the root of the problem—that person’s drug use—and, in turn, reducing drug-related offenses in the community. Further, in the case of opioids, police also were seeking to prevent overdoses. A decade later, the benefits suggested in the 2015 article have borne out, and the practice of deflection indeed has exploded into the emergence of a global field and movement. Reflecting on the impact of deflection over the past decade, many additional lessons and benefits have become evident as well. In this presentation, ten lessons learned will be presented, in brief.

<b>Session Description</b>: Families powerfully, influence health, relationships, risk of substance use disorder (SUD), and the ability to recover from SUD. Families are affected not only by the experience of a loved one’s SUD, but by the cultures and larger systems in which they are embedded as well as the systems with which they interact. Families represent not only a potentially powerful form of recovery capital (RC) for those who have SUD or are in recovery. Additionally, they can benefit from physical, social, and, cultural RC themselves and can serve as a form of RC for each other. <br><br>This session presents the Recovery-Ready Families framework, a structured approach that equips families with practical principles and postures to reduce harm, strengthen connection and support recovery. It also examines the interaction between families and broader systems and the roles families can play in supporting recovery and explores the impact of parental SUD on children, reviewing evidence-based approaches for addressing associated trauma and for promoting intergenerational healing and recovery, including the National Council for Children of Addiction’s evidence-based Celebrating Families! Curriculum and its Clergy Education and Training Project. Panelists will review research on the relationship between family engagement in SUD treatment and recovery, and examine how families, communities, employers, and other entities can become recovery ecosystems. <br><br>Drawing on the latest research and practice, panelists will explore how stigma, isolation and fragmented supports limit a family’s capacity to respond effectively and will provide an overview of strategies that can help them overcome these challenges.

<b>Session Description</b>: Shatterproof will present on its efforts to influence policies in states that have legalized recreational marijuana.<br><br>This effort entails collaboration with the Partnership to End Addiction to leverage its seminal review of state marijuana policies, Youth Protection Provisions within Marijuana Liberalization Laws: Evidence-based Recommendations for Policymakers.<br><br>The presentation will share work with policy makers to enact policies that research shows will impede youth initiation in these states. Examples of evidence-based policies from the report include THC potency limits, dispensary distance specifications from children, advertising restrictions and others.<br><br>Shatterproof piloted this effort in several states and will report on progress to date. It will also report on the challenges in confronting<br>commercial interest.<br><br>Finally, we will share the research citations included in the report and elsewhere that justify this policy initiative and show that youth are<br>especially susceptible to a reduction in perception of risk in legalized states.

<b>Session Description</b>: In this session we will describe the creation and operation of the Possibility Shop in Cumberland, MD to address needs voiced by the community. It is a low barrier resource with a wide range of services to meet almost everyone where they are at. We will describe how services and service delivery has evolved over the 3+ years of operation. We will describe how we engage our clients and assess their needs. Funding has been a braided approach to ensure a variety of services are covered and sustainability maintained. Small grants to buy supplies and larger grants to maintain staff for a variety of services. Relationships with other stakeholders such law enforcement, faith community, public health, social services, business community, and the public will be described. Controversies and efforts to maintain trust with the community will also be addressed. Maryland Department of Health (MDH) will describe how the harm reduction services provided at the Shop fit data and gaps present throughout the state. MDH will also speak to braiding funding at the state level to create grants that can cover a wider variety of services. Staffing is provided entirely by Peers, Community Health Workers and Health Insurance Navigators. Space is provided to other agencies and organizations to operate their programs at the Shop. Concentrating as many resources as possible at the Shop is a primary objective. Current efforts to expand this model to smaller more remote communities will be described.

<b>Session Description</b>: We begin this presentation by emphasizing that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a superordinate category that contains an assortment of “branded” therapy approaches (e.g., Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Behavioral Activation, Cognitive Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, etc.). These approaches have some obvious similarities and differences. Perhaps the most conspicuous similarity is that they focus on patients’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They are typically structured, time-limited, and present-focused, providing structured techniques to facilitate desired patient outcomes. Differences mostly regard their various primary focal points (e.g., automatic thoughts, beliefs, schemas, acceptance, commitment, behavior change, compassion, emotion regulation, mindfulness, interpersonal processes, etc.).<br><br>We describe and distinguish between content and process in the provision of CBT for addictive disorders. We consider structure, collaboration, case conceptualization, psychoeducation, and specific techniques, with emphasis on potential challenges common to each of these processes.<br><br>We discuss some of the many misconceptions regarding CBT. Perhaps the most egregious is that CBT involves a superficial, formulaic, expedient approach to helping patients. Those who effectively practice CBT know well that CBT is not superficial, formulaic, or expedient. Instead, CBT engages a complex process, involving complex content. To further complicate matters, CBT patients form a diverse group whose members vary in their responses to therapy and therapists. For example, some benefit from directive therapy, some from non-directive therapy; some require a high degree of structure, others prefer less structure; some desire relaxed, friendly relationships with therapists, others prefer formal, professional relationships with therapists.

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<b>Session Description</b>: This session will spotlight four Tennessee-based leaders who have transformed personal histories of addiction and justice involvement into powerful platforms for statewide impact. These individuals—now serving in executive roles across the Tennessee Governor’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS), the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council, and a rural Recovery Court—share a common thread: lived experience.<br><br>Through authentic storytelling and real-world strategies, this session will explore how recovery is not just a personal journey but a leadership pipeline. Each presenter represents a system that has evolved to embrace the value of lived experience—not just as a testimonial, but as infrastructure.<br>Tennessee has taken a bold step by formally integrating lived experience into its workforce. From state-funded mentorship models to court innovation and recovery policy, the state is demonstrating that the long-term outcome of recovery isn’t just sobriety—it’s public service, strategic leadership, and community transformation.

<b>Session Description</b>: Buprenorphine is the cornerstone of evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), yet significant challenges persist for patient access. Most patients who experience problems filling buprenorphine report missing at least one dose, with a mean duration of five days missed. People who live in rural areas or in pharmacy deserts face disproportionately greater access barriers, from providers and pharmacies. Even when patients bring a prescription to a pharmacy, national secret shopper telephone audits have identified fewer than 40 percent of pharmacies willing and able to promptly dispense buprenorphine for OUD. Concerns about misuse and diversion have been identified as major contributors to this problem, yet these concerns continue to be unfounded while creating a grave situation for people unable to readily obtain life-saving medication. The pharmacies that strive to maintain and expand buprenorphine inventory also face uncertainty from opaque pharmacy distributor quantity thresholds.<br><br>In this presentation, we will describe three of the most common pharmacy refusal scenarios encountered in clinical practice, and share research and real-world examples of what drives these failures. Drawing from multi-state data, qualitative research, and experience delivering care to more than 20,000 patients via telehealth, we will explore provider-pharmacist communication strategies, educational tools to address pharmacy-level misinformation, and upstream policy levers to promote buprenorphine access. Attendees will come away with actionable insights on how to support patients navigating pharmacy barriers and how to engage across sectors to close the final gap in the medication access pathway.

<b>Session Description</b>: This presentation explores how a large health care system spanning 80 ambulatory sites and 14 hospitals across three states has implemented anti-stigma practices at multiple levels using the social ecological model of health. Strategies at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, policy, and cultural levels have led to increased prescribing of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), improved staff education, and better patient outcomes. At the individual level, efforts include promoting person-centered language, normalizing MOUD as evidence-based treatment rather than drug substitution, and supporting patients regardless of drug screening results or continued use. Interpersonal strategies involve training staff to treat substance use disorder (SUD) like any other condition, welcoming patients and families, educating loved ones on MOUD support, and connecting patients to peer support resources. Organizational strategies focus on shifting health care culture, such as allowing family participation in MOUD visits, integrating MOUD into primary care, and treating SUD as a chronic condition with comprehensive support. Education initiatives aim to “change hearts and minds” by normalizing SUD care and fostering compassion in treatment. System-wide campaigns to “end overdose” engage both providers and patients, reinforcing a culture of empathy and evidence-based care. This session will provide practical, scalable strategies for health systems and organizations seeking to improve MOUD access and reduce stigma, aligning with Rx Summit’s mission to advance evidence-based solutions to the opioid crisis.

<b>Session Description</b>: The BETTER WITHOUT IT® campaign (@betterwithout.it) reaches Gen Z on digital platforms with clear, objective information about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and a critical message of empowerment. This unique prevention campaign, based in the principles of positive youth development, originated in Central Florida – and then a chance meeting at Rx Summit 2024 opened the doors to impact an even bigger audience of young people. <br><br>Through a new partnership with the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission and the Office of the Attorney General, as well as three major state university partners, BETTER WITHOUT IT® has begun to help young people across the State of Kentucky understand that their minds, bodies, relationships, and future are already better without illicit substance use. <br><br>Using the expansion of the BETTER WITHOUT IT® campaign as a case study, this session will provide insights into the challenges and opportunities of engaging Generation Z on a statewide level via a positive youth development approach, partnerships with student athletes and other youth ambassadors, and direct youth engagement strategies. Presenters will share their practical takeaways from directing this youth engagement campaign and building partnerships in Kentucky with the goal of inspiring an entire state to pursue a substance-free lifestyle.

<b>Session Description</b>: Returning to some level of substance use is common following substance use disorder treatments, highlighting the need for improved aftercare interventions. Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) integrates evidence-based approaches from mindfulness-based interventions with best practices from cognitive-behavioral relapse prevention. Prior trials have demonstrated the long-term efficacy of MBRP in reducing substance use and heavy drinking as compared to standard cognitive-behavioral relapse prevention and treatment as usual over a 12-month follow-up period. This talk provides an introduction to mindfulness-based interventions to increase awareness of triggers and automatic reactions in the service of reducing addictive behaviors, as well as promoting recovery and reducing the risk of returning to addictive behaviors following treatment. The talk will include a review of outcomes from four randomized clinical trials of MBRP and our ongoing work using adaptations of MBRP in a nationwide clinical trial for alcohol use disorder and a residential treatment facility for individuals with substance use disorder. The talk will be experiential providing the opportunity to learn about the intentions and principles of mindfulness based interventions through mindfulness practices. Video segments of mindfulness-based interventions will also be incorporated to highlight key treatment intentions. We will also review the role of mindfulness-based relapse prevention in promoting resilience in recovery and why mindfulness-based relapse prevention may be particularly effective for individuals with marginalized identities.

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Speakers and session details to be announced soon.

<b>Session/Poster Description</b>: Medetomidine is a veterinary alpha-2 agonist sedative, similar to xylazine ("tranq"), that was first found in Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey drug supply in May 2024. Medetomidine is 100-200 times more potent than xylazine and can cause longer-lasting sedation, low heart rates (bradycardia), and more severe withdrawal symptoms. Medetomidine is not an opioid, but is increasingly found in the area's "dope" (street opioid) supply. Since May 2024, emergency department visits for substance use related skin and soft tissue injury driven by xylazine have decreased by 50%, while visits for withdrawal related to medetomidine have more than doubled. Medetomidine's sudden emergence in the Philadelphia polysubstance drug supply demonstrates how rapidly the illicit substances in a geographical area can dramatically change. Communities need to anticipate these potential sudden changes and prepare for them. This presentation will share how four different regional health care systems have come together with public health officials to do just that, by collaborating first for xylazine and now to address medetomidine's emergence. Different initiatives to address awareness of these changes, identification of medetomidine overdose and withdrawal management will be shared, especially regarding how they are different from xylazine. Outbreaks in New Jersey have been disparate by location and the rationale for these differences will be reviewed. Attendees will be able to consider and initiate mitigation strategies employed through public health, law enforcement, and clinician collaboration on how to decrease medetomidine overdose presence in their communities. These strategies and initiatives can then be taken back home and utilized to prepare and address future sudden changes of the emergence of any new problematic drug substance, like medetomidine, in their drug supply.<br/><br/><b>Relevant Evidence</b>: Based on drug testing and reports from local emergency departments, medetomidine is rapidly replacing xylazine in the Philadelphia/South Jersey drug supply. Since the introduction of medetomidine, there has been an increase and variation in withdrawal symptoms, a decrease in the number of patients seeking treatment for xylazine-associated wounds, and a decrease in the presence of xylazine in the drug supply. Per the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Department of Health from May 2024 to November 2024, the percentage of Philadelphia drug samples with medetomidine increased from 29% to 87%, while the percentage of samples with xylazine decreased from 97% to 42%, suggesting that medetomidine is quickly overtaking xylazine in the drug supply. During this period, medetomidine was also found in overdose death data from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s (PDPH) Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO) and, like xylazine, has always been found in combination with fentanyl. In December 2024, a health alert notifying providers of severe withdrawal symptoms requiring ICU level of care attributed to concurrent use of medetomidine and fentanyl was issued. In May 2025, the CDC published a report describing 165 patients admitted to Philadelphia's health systems between 9/1/24 to 1/31/25 with a newly recognized medetomidine withdrawal syndrome, of which 91% were admitted to ICU and 24% were intubated. As reported by New Jersey State Police Department of Forensic Science, similar results are being seen in southern New Jersey where medetomidine has an increasing presence in the drug supply, almost exclusively being combined with fentanyl.<br/><br/><b> Relevance to Rx Summit Audience</b>: Polysubstance overdoses with new emerging illicit substances are happening constantly across the country with sudden changes increasing in occurrence. A perfect case scenario is the emergence of medetomidine rapidly replacing xylazine in the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey drug supply. This sudden change to medetomidine has brought increasing challenges in managing patients due to the overdose/withdrawal and other complications that differ from xylazine. Working through xylazine prepared the Philadelphia region to be prepared for the emergence of a new illicit substance and these learnings were employed to address medetomidine. Attendees will benefit from understanding how the Philadelphia region responded to medetomidine through a massive collaborative effort. The methodologies, learnings, and strategies employed by cooperation of multiple stakeholders directly involved will be shared so that participants can take these ideas home to their local communities and improve their overall response when medetomidine or any other new substance appears in their neighborhoods.<br/><br/>

<b>Session Description</b>: Untreated chronic pain remains an overlooked driver of the opioid epidemic. This powerful, solution-focused plenary brings together internationally recognized experts to share new science, clinical strategies, and personal perspectives on advancing integrated pain care. Featuring Sanjay Gupta, MD (CNN), Eric Garland, PhD (University of California, San Diego), and Dan Kruger (Professional Motorcycle Athlete), this session will highlight innovative approaches like Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) and inspire action toward a new standard of healing for individuals living with pain and opioid dependence.<br><br>Additional speakers will be announced.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session introduces Reverse the Cycle, a peer-led overdose response and recovery engagement model embedded within the Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) system. This innovative program uses Peer Recovery Coaches (PRCs) with lived experience to meet patients at critical moments—offering hope, support, and immediate options for recovery.<br><br>PRCs provide real-time bedside support, Narcan distribution, harm reduction education, and rapid linkage to treatment for individuals identified through emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment), SDoH (Social Determinants of Health) screenings, CRAFT assessments, and targeted street outreach in high-risk and homeless areas.<br><br>A key feature of the program is the integration of inpatient medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) induction and bridge prescribing, ensuring patients receive immediate treatment initiation and seamless continuity of care post-discharge. This approach reduces relapse risk and increases engagement with ongoing treatment.<br><br>Beyond hospital walls, peers collaborate with courts, jails, probation and parole, and reentry programs to support justice-involved individuals, helping them navigate recovery at every stage. They also assist participants with workforce development, connecting them to job training, education, and employment resources to address long-term social and economic needs.<br><br>Attendees will learn how this model saves lives while generating measurable healthcare savings. ARH has achieved reductions in 30-day readmissions, improved patient satisfaction, and decreased lengths of stay—demonstrating that peer integration benefits both patients and hospitals.<br><br>Key takeaways include:<br><br>Embedding peer support into hospital and community workflows<br><br>Implementing SBIRT, SDoH, and CRAFT screenings<br><br>Launching inpatient MOUD and bridge prescribing programs<br><br>Engaging justice-involved populations and supporting reentry<br><br>Using outreach tracking and data tools for outcome measurement<br><br>Participants will leave with a replicable model bridging acute care, justice systems, and recovery support in rural, high-need communities.

<b>Session Description</b>: This session would include information on the raters of Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) and how our program Linking Actions for Healthy Mothers and Babies (LAHMB), funded through RCORP/HRSA, is working with pregnant moms to provide education and support to lower the number of babies born with NOWS. W will cover how to provide caring case management, evidence-based birthing and parenting education, prevention presentations in the schools, Peer Support Groups, and implement a Consortium of providers to reduce the incidence and impact of NOWS with a multi-dimensional approach across the preconception, prenatal and post-partum continuum using best practice methods. The session will include an overview of the LAHMB program activities such as universal screening, brief intervention and referral (SBIRT), trauma informed screening practices, filling in gaps in the coordination of care among providers, offering information sessions and materials to help prepare pregnant women with SUD/OUD for the experience of delivering their babies at hospitals, providing prenatal and post-partum education, increasing Naloxone education, administration and distribution, educate high-school aged youth, enhance wrap-around care and professional advocacy for mothers with SUD/OUD, and providing a peer support network for participants. Participants will take-away how to set up a program in their area, new information on the needs of pregnant women with SUD, and how to set up partnerships to focus attention and resources on the continuing battle with opioid and other substance use dependency and its consequences on children and families.

<b>Session Description</b>: Family members—whether biological, extended, or chosen—are often overlooked in clinical, research, and policy discussions about the impacts of substance use disorders (SUD). For every individual with a SUD, multiple family members are affected, and the health and social impact of a loved one’s substance use on families is substantial. Families impacted by SUD are at high risk for their own health issues, including depression, anxiety, and exacerbation of substance use or chronic health problems. The impact of these consequences is heightened because of the stigma, guilt, shame and self-blame that often accompany substance use. As a result, families affected by SUD seldom seek support for themselves, which perpetuates their social isolation and increases their health risks. This session will describe the literature on the unique effects of SUD on families and how these effects can change throughout their loved one’s substance use trajectory, including research understanding the “special grief” people who are bereaved by overdose deaths experience. Dr. Osilla will also discuss a range of evidence-based strategies for supporting families. In particular, she will provide clinical insights on implementing the Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training (CRAFT) for families seeking tools to help a loved one who is resistant to treatment. Additionally, she will share grief support techniques for those grieving a drug-related death. This session ultimately aims to champion the needs of families affected by SUD, and it urges the field to both understand the nuances families experience and tailor effective strategies for serving this often-overlooked group.

<p>Developed in Partnership with:<br><img src=https://naccme.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/26.BehavioralHealth.101/APA+D… alt="Upload Image" width="200" /></p>

A portion of the North American drug landscape has fundamentally transformed, shifting from illicitly street-sourced substances to brightly lit convenience store shelves. This session will address the rise of “gas station drugs” that have become easily accessible and largely unregulated among retail products across the United States. Under the allure of “safe” and “legal”, numerous new drug substances are now available for purchase over-the-counter, and this new paradigm requires specialized knowledge from law enforcement, clinicians, scientists, and public health officials.
Several policy changes have helped fuel this new landscape. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“Farm Bill”) opened the door to new semi-synthetic cannabinoids (e.g., delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC) produced from hemp CBD extract, in addition to more potent cannabinoids (e.g., THCP). The DEA’s 2016 decision not to schedule mitragynine and 7-hydroxy mitragynine has led to a surge in high-potency kratom extracts and the sale of enriched semi-synthetic mitragynine alkaloids. Moreover, there has been a surge in availability of psilocin and its chemical derivatives (e.g., 4-AcO-DMT) sold in mushroom-marketed products, and repurposed therapeutic drugs, like tianeptine ("gas station heroin") and phenibut are now consumed in macro-doses to elicit altered psychoactive effects.
The unpredictable nature of these “legal” drug products paired with unknown clinical effects has increased risks and adverse events. Confirmed drug analysis of substances purchased from smoke shops will be described. Strategies for recognizing signs of acute toxicity, addressing limitations of routine urine drug screening, and navigating complex legal status will be discussed, and countermeasure strategies will be explored.

<b>Session Description</b>: Please join us for the Rx Summit networking and discussion groups on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. They are designed to foster an open exchange of ideas, experiences, and best practices. These groups are not formal presentations, but rather opportunities to hear what’s working from your colleagues, exchange ideas, and continue the conversation beyond the conference. Bring your business cards and come prepared to share your experiences, challenges, and successes! Open to all registered Rx Summit attendees.<br><br>Region 1 - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont<br>Region 2 - New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands<br>Region 3 - Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia<br>Region 4 - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee<br>Region 5 - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin<br>Region 7 - Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska<br>Region 6 - Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas<br>Region 8 - Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming<br>Region 9 - Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau<br>Region 10 - Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington

<b>Session Description</b>: Explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming efforts to prevent, treat, and respond to substance use and addiction. Expert speakers will discuss real-world applications of AI in healthcare, behavioral health, and law enforcement, as well as key ethical and practical considerations.<br><br>Speaker to be announced soon!

<b>Session Description</b>: Fentanyl is driving a deadly fourth wave of the opioid epidemic, fueled by counterfeit pills that have taken hold in communities across the US. In Orange County, fentanyl-related overdose deaths have risen sharply, especially among youth and young adults. To respond, the Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) launched Fentanyl is Forever in October 2023, a multilingual, culturally inclusive public awareness and harm reduction campaign funded by Opioid Settlement Funds (OSF). The goal was to deliver urgent, emotional messaging, direct residents to free naloxone and local resources, and normalize harm reduction practices. <br><br>The HCA began with a ready-to-launch Turn-Key Campaign from Idea Engineering, allowing for a rapid, full-scale media rollout within weeks. This was followed by locally tailored messaging and media partnerships to ensure cultural and linguistic relevance. Strategies included digital, social, streaming, out-of-home, print, radio, in-theater, and community-based outreach, resulting in more than one billion impressions and over 437,000 new visitors to the campaign website. <br><br>Partnerships with city leaders, law enforcement, and community organizations amplified impact through customized toolkits, localized materials, and co-branded outreach. The campaign’s success demonstrates how combining speed, strategy, and community voice can drive measurable results. <br><br>This session will guide attendees through every stage of campaign planning and execution, from early decision-making and OSF deployment to optimization based on real-time data. Attendees will leave with practical lessons learned and proven steps to build impactful prevention campaigns that save lives and strengthen communities.

<b>Session Description</b>: Effective advocacy isn’t about pushing harder on what you care about — it’s about making others see how it connects to what THEY care about. Led by a former state legislator and a governor's former chief of staff, who are now on the other side of the desk as lobbyists, the presenters bring a combined 40+ years of advocacy experience. They have both received and directed millions of dollars in prevention funding, and understand firsthand how priorities are set, decisions are made, champions are cultivated, and where things go awry.<br><br>Too often, advocates assume that elected officials or decision makers will automatically be their allies. However, without a clear connection between your priorities and theirs, even the most compelling issue can stall. <br><br>You’ll learn how to take highly technical information — such as complex medical terms or detailed research findings — and personal stories and translate them into clear, relatable, actionable language for people without specialized training, without oversimplifying or losing accuracy.<br><br>Attendees will learn:<br>• How to quickly assess what matters most to those you need to influence.<br>• Strategies to reframe your issue so it resonates with their values, priorities, and pressures.<br>• Techniques for making complex, technical content understandable and compelling for any audience.<br>• Practical storytelling and data tips that connect emotionally and logically.<br><br>You’ll leave with a ready-to-use framework to strengthen your advocacy, improve partnerships, and drive meaningful change in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

<b>Session Description</b>: Medically Tailored Meal is the backbone of the Food is Medicine movement(1) which aims to prevent, treat, control and even cure diet-related health issues by allowing doctors and providers to prescribe food(2) appropriately as they do for medicines. The illicit drug crises and overdoses fueled by addiction carry health-related complications and co-morbidities including hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, HIV, malnutrition, infections, poor wound healing, food deserts/insecurity, homelessness(housing is health), etc. A 2019 study found that opioid overdoses were concentrated in more economically disadvantaged zip codes, indicated by higher rates of poverty and unemployment as well as lower education and median household income. Other studies have found poverty to be a risk factor for opioid overdoses, unemployment to be a risk factor for fatal heroin overdoses, and a low education level to be a risk factor for prescription overdose, and for overdose mortality. Homelessness was associated with overdoses as well, especially among veterans(3). These healthcare disparities associated with Social determinants of health(SDOH) - poverty, homelessness, and social stigma make addiction more deadly(4). Providing MTMs to opioid users at home and at opioid crisis centers, prevention centers, and recovery centers provide a safe avenue for engagement and care continuum.

<b>Session Description</b>: New York City (NYC) has experienced alarming increases in drug overdose deaths since 2015. In response to this crisis, the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner began conducting interviews with next-of-kin (NOK) of suspected overdose decedents to supplement overdose fatality reviews, support death investigations, and inform partner agencies’ programmatic initiatives (e.g., public health, public safety). Forensic social workers conducted interviews with NOK between 2017-2021 regarding decedents’ social background, health, and substance use histories, generating a large, novel dataset. <br><br>We conducted qualitative thematic analysis of these narratives (n=749), generating >500 codes, and stratified analyses by decedent demographic characteristics. These analyses resulted in four overarching themes: 1) the challenging context of social determinants of health (SDoH) for decedents, 2) patterns in familial support and/or estrangement, 3) extensive history of mental and physical health conditions, and 4) negative emotional status and circumstances around their time of death. This session will share the methods used in analyzing this unique dataset, the strengths and limitations of using NOK interviews as a data source, and the thematic outcomes of our analysis.<br><br>Topics included in this discussion will range from housing characteristics, employment histories, and engagement with social services to decedents’ emotional states around the times of their deaths and how this may relate to SDoH. Further, we will explore what factors may have demonstrated positive and/or negative impacts on decedents’ substance use histories through these themes. This session will consider the results of this research to inform specific actionable outcomes that may be applied to addressing the overdose crisis. We will also share how these data may be used locally to inform ongoing overdose prevention efforts by OCME and partners in NYC.

<b>Session Description</b>: Professionals with lived experience of addiction offer unique insight and connection in opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment, yet their personal recovery journeys can also introduce unintended bias—particularly in relation to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). This interactive workshop explores how personal values shaped by abstinence-based recovery can unintentionally influence professional practice and client care. Presenters, both in long-term abstinence-based recovery, will share their personal and professional evolution—from initially resisting MOUD to embracing its evidence-based efficacy—highlighting the harm caused when personal beliefs are projected onto clients.<br><br>Attendees will examine how bias can undermine client autonomy, reduce MOUD engagement, and unintentionally stigmatize clients. Through self-assessment, case analysis, and facilitated discussion, participants will identify personal values that may impact professional judgment and learn actionable strategies to ensure ethical, client-centered care.<br><br>Takeaways from this session include:<br><br>Self-assessment tools to evaluate recovery-related bias in practice<br><br>Communication techniques to support client autonomy when discussing MOUD<br><br>Ethical strategies to separate personal experience from clinical decision-making<br><br>Real-world examples of recovery projection and how to repair therapeutic relationships when harm occurs<br><br>As the opioid crisis evolves, embracing all pathways to recovery is critical. This session helps professionals ensure their lived experience enhances rather than limits care, aligning with the current shift toward harm reduction, MOUD, and individualized treatment planning. Designed for counselors, peer support specialists, clinicians, and supervisors, this workshop supports more inclusive, ethical, and effective responses to the opioid epidemic.

<b>Session Description</b>: In 2019, we launched PROVIDENT—a NIH-funded research study and public-academic partnership between Brown University, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and community-based overdose prevention organizations across Rhode Island. We developed, implemented, and evaluated a machine learning-based forecasting tool to predict future overdose deaths at the neighborhood level and proactively inform preventive services delivery. We then conducted a statewide community intervention trial to determine whether municipalities randomized to receive forecasts of future neighborhood overdose risk would experience greater reductions in fatal and non-fatal overdoses compared to municipalities receiving timely historical surveillance data. We hypothesized that using small-area predictions to guide resources (e.g., naloxone, mobile outreach) to neighborhoods at highest risk of future overdose would reduce overdose-related morbidity and mortality. In this session, we will present results from the PROVIDENT randomized community intervention trial. Next, we will discuss the scalability and generalizability of the PROVIDENT project to reduce overdose risk in other states and jurisdictions. Third, we will discuss the utility of integrating machine learning-based overdose prediction tools into existing state-level overdose surveillance systems. Finally, we will debate the increasingly important role of predictive analytics in the nation’s overdose response strategy. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will have learned about strategies to address: (1) ethical concerns regarding the (re)-allocation of limited and urgently needed overdose prevention resources based on modeled predictions; (2) translation of neighborhood-level risk predictions into frontline community-based overdose response; and (3) integration of forecasting tools into overdose surveillance systems.