Substance/Opioid Use Disorder & Treatment

Help is Here: A Resource for Community Members

Emotional, behavioral, and/or mental distress is common and affects people with different identities and stressors every day. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these signs, reaching out for support is an important way to start your journey.

Understanding that the behavioral health system can be complex and confusing, MHA has developed this website to help individuals identify behavioral health resources.


March 14, 2016 Governor Baker Signs Landmark Opioid Legislation into Law

On March 14, 2016 at the State House, Governor Charlie Baker signed landmark legislation into law to address the deadly opioid and heroin epidemic plaguing the Commonwealth and was joined by a robust group including Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Attorney General Maura Healey, Auditor Suzanne Bump, members of the legislature, law enforcement, health care providers, community leaders, individuals in recovery and others. The bill, titled An Act relative to substance use, treatment, education and prevention, passed with unanimous votes in both legislative chambers and includes numerous recommendations from the Governor’s opioid working group, including prevention education for students and doctors, and the first law in the nation to establish a seven day limit on first-time opioid prescriptions.

Read more on BillH4056


Resources:

CDC AHA Prescription Opioids

What you need to know, June 2016.

Template Patient Fact Sheet

Jointly issued by MHA and Massachusetts Medical Society, - It is recommended that patients are provided this form when a prescription opioid is issued .

Template Medication Storage Fact Sheet

Proposed recommendations for safe and appropriate storage of opioid medications within a patient’s residence that may also be provided to patients when a prescription is issued.

Available Drug Disposal Options

Provides an overview of local and statewide appropriate and safe disposal options for opioids.

Avoid Opioids for Most Long-Term Pain

Opioids have been in the news a lot lately. To help you make sense of them, we’ve gathered advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doctors’ groups, and Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs. Opioids can cause bad side effects. (See “Some Side Effects of Opioids.”) But might be OK to use them for severe pain that lasts for a short time. This includes pain from surgery or a broken bone.

In this guide you can read what the experts say about using opioids.
 

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