Corey Davis

We conducted a systematic legal review to determine the prevalence and characteristics of state laws that require some or all hospital emergency departments to create protocols to screen patients for substance use disorder as well as those that require that hospitals take specific actions when providing care to such individuals or individuals who have experienced an overdose.

Over the past ten years, there have been important and lifesaving efforts to address drug related harm. All states have passed laws increasing access to the overdose reversal medication naloxone and nearly all have passed overdose Good Samaritan laws, and dedicated advocates have succeeded in legalizing syringe services programs in several states. Unfortunately, law still overwhelmingly works to increase, rather than decrease, risks to people who use drugs. In this commentary, Corey Davis, director of the Network’s Harm Reduction Legal Project, reflects on efforts to address the opioid epidemic and why additional systemic change is needed. Read more.

This resource summarizes the characteristics of naloxone access and Good Samaritan laws in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In this webinar, presenters will describe the nature of the laws being announced from the judicial bench or proposed in state legislatures, the process by which they are being formulated in every level and branch of government, and the principles that should guide legal developments as we seek to balance the facts, expert opinion, and civic participation, as well as guard against harmful unforeseen consequences.

The Network has joined with public health law partners to produce a new report, COVID-19 Policy Playbook: Legal Recommendations for a Safer, More Equitable Future, examining policy challenges and opportunities in light of the pandemic. In this Q&A, the Network’s Corey Davis and Amy Lieberman discuss some of the key elements in the chapter they co-authored for the report including the positive impact of opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment, recent changes to increase access to that treatment, and recommendations for permanently reducing legislative and regulatory barriers to effective, evidence-based interventions for OUD.

President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) into law on March 11, 2021. While most media attention focused on its headline provisions, including $1,400 stimulus checks for many individuals, $350 billion in aid to state, local, and tribal governments, and expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit and child tax credit, the Act also contains historic assistance for harm reduction programs.

by Overview The United States continues to experience an epidemic of drug-related harm, most of which could be prevented by expanding existing interventions,…

The United States continues to experience an unprecedented level of drug-related harm. While the failure to prevent this harm is most notable in the number of overdose deaths, which are now at their highest level on record, it is evident in other areas as well. Of particular importance from a policy perspective, bloodborne disease infections related to syringe sharing are also on the rise, with recent outbreaks in Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Indiana, among other states. Cases of infective endocarditis, which is caused largely by unsafe injection, are increasing as well.

This paper identifies barriers to OAT access and potential solutions to improve OAT uptake in eight sectors.

The Network’s Harm Reduction Legal Project works to address the legal and policy barriers that impede the establishment and expansion of evidence-based harm reduction measures such as naloxone distribution, syringe access programs, and access to evidence-based substance use disorder treatment. One of the questions frequently received by the Project is whether federal law prohibits harm reduction organizations and similar groups who are authorized to distribute naloxone from mailing the medication.

In this Q&A, Corey Davis, deputy director of the Network’s Southeastern Region Office and director of the Network’s Harm Reduction Legal Project; and Amy Lieberman, senior attorney, for the Network’s Harm Reduction Legal Project, discuss some of the key elements in the chapter they authored, Access to Care for Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder, for the Report.

This fact sheet briefly summarizes the state of the law in Idaho related to naloxone access, overdose Good Samaritan protections, and access to injection equipment.