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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Drug-Free Workplace Toolkit provides information to help employers develop and sustain successful drug-free workplace programs.

The National Drug-Free Workplace Alliance offers drug-free workplace program resources and assistance.

Developed by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, this resource gives an overview of the legal and operational issues an employer must consider when dealing with an employee's use of opioids and other substances.

Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction has designed a set of tools and resources to support your organization in understanding and addressing substance use disorders (SUDs).

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) uses medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat Opioid Use Disorder. This document provides information about MAT as well as information for employers wishing to assist or support workers with opioid use disorder.

Shatterproof's Just Five program is an easy to implement, mobile-friendly addiction education program designed specifically for companies to offer to their employees. A limited time commitment improves employee engagement.

Discovery Education and the Drug Enforcement Administration self-guided online learning modules that enable individuals to engage in meaningful opioid misuse education.

The Drug Enforcement Administration provides a national search tool for Controlled Substance Public Disposal locations in your area.

Resources for families on the dangers of opioid misuse including how to safeguard medications, educate children and teens, utilize medication-assisted treatment, and more.

Parent Coaching is a peer-to-peer program, for parents seeking to help and perspective on their child's substance use issues.

SAMHSA's Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, a confidential and anonymous source of information for persons seeking treatment facilities in the United States or U.S. Territories for substance abuse/addiction and/or mental health problems.

HHS provides a list of local resources for opioid treatment. Enter your address, city or ZIP code to confidentially locate treatment centers nearest to you.

Nar-Anon is a twelve-step program designed to provide support for family and friends of those with substance abuse issues. The website also offers a meeting database to find Nar-Anon meetings in your area.

In 2018, the USG + U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index reported that 39% of contractors are highly concerned over the safety impacts of worker substance abuse.

It’s a dangerous line of work without adding drugs to the mix. Yet executives at national trade group Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) recognized that many construction companies are small businesses that don’t have the resources to help end opioid addiction and other substance-abuse problems among their employees. So ABC enlisted another group, Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), to help form an industry-wide coalition to push for drug-free construction sites.

Six other big trade groups have since joined what’s now called the Construction Coalition for a Drug- and Alcohol-Free Workplace (CCDAFW), which offers detailed state-by-state information on drug abuse prevention and treatment.

Visit the CCDAFW website to learn more.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Discovery Education have partnered to create Operation Prevention, a comprehensive program to combat opioid misuse and heroin use.

Operation Prevention’s mission is to educate students in grades 3-12 about the impacts of opioids and kick-start lifesaving conversations in the home and classroom. This no-cost program includes Virtual Field Trips, parent resources, English and Spanish language standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, and a national peer-to-peer video challenge.

Visit the Operation Prevention website to learn more.

In trying to solve a complex problem, it often helps to gather a wide range of expertise and insights. So Amazon Web Services (AWS) last year started a think tank called the AWS Opioid Crisis Council, bringing together people from nonprofits, business, government agencies, and health care. The group’s goal is to find new ways to apply technology, like artificial intelligence and the cloud, in the fight against opioid abuse.

One example: Using the cloud to collect vast data sets from widely scattered sources, so paramedics can quickly access recent medical records of patients who have overdosed. AWS also collaborated on a monitoring tool, now used in 42 states, that helps doctors and pharmacists stop opioid abuse by alerting them when a patient tries to fill prescriptions in more than one state.

Alexa, everyone’s favorite robot, is now savvy about opioids, too. Last summer, Amazon programmed the device to answer questions like “Alexa, what is an opioid?” — and “Alexa, where can I go for help with opioid addiction?”

Visit the AWS website to learn more.

If you happened to be in the vicinity of the Boston Seaport one sunny day in September, you may have noticed a crowd of hard-hatted construction workers gathered around a stage to hear how to identify an opioid overdose and where on local construction sites to locate and use life-saving naloxone. 

Among the speakers at that event was John Rosenthal, co-founder and chairman of a nonprofit called the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI). The group got its start in 2015 when police in Gloucester, Mass., launched the Angel Program, a new way to fight the war on opioids. Drug users who want to get clean can contact the police and get help, not handcuffs.

Today PAARI is a nationwide network of 420 police departments in 32 states all of whom are trying to reduce the demand for illicit substances, instead of trying solely to stem the supply. The FBI has estimated that someone in the U.S. gets arrested on drug charges, often opioid-related, every 20 seconds. Many of those arrested are users, not dealers. By approaching opioid addiction as an illness rather than a crime, PAARI police departments steer people into treatment instead of jail.

PAARI works closely with businesses and trade unions, particularly in construction, where opioids are especially a hazard. Any employer whose local police department is a PAARI member can request training in naloxone use, referrals to treatment programs, and coaching on creating what PAARI calls a “recovery-friendly” workplace.

Visit the PAARI website to learn more.

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• Miami, FL
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• Boston, MA
• Frederick, MD
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National Institute of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse information on opioid use and addiction.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers information on prevention, treatment, and recovery.

This landmark publication provided the latest research on substance misuse, substance use disorders, and their health impacts for the general public.

National Opioid Action Coalition is a corporate social responsibility initiative of WPP and iHeartMedia that complements existing state and federal government efforts to help drive measurable results in prevention, treatment and/or recovery for communities and individuals affected by this crisis.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Discovery Education have partnered to create Operation Prevention, a comprehensive program to combat opioid misuse and heroin use. Operation Prevention's mission is to educate students in grades 3-12 about the true impacts of opioids and kick-start lifesaving conversations in the home and classroom. This no-cost program includes Virtual Field Trips, parent resources, English and Spanish language standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, and a national peer-to-peer video challenge.

SAFE is a national nonprofit working through a disciplined, collaborative, multi-pronged and non-partisan approach to ending the nation's catastrophic opioid epidemic.

The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (PAARI) provides support and resources to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery.