SAFE GC Coalition: SAMHSA Report on Drug Abuse Warning Network

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has re-established the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) as a nationwide public health surveillance system to monitor emergency department (ED) visits associated with recent substance use, including those related to opioids. Authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act, this program is necessary to respond effectively to the opioid and addiction crises in the United States and to better inform public health, clinicians, policymakers, and other stakeholders to respond to emerging substance use trends.

By using data abstracted directly from ED records, DAWN captures detailed information about the substances involved in ED visits and will serve as an early warning system for the emergence of new and novel psychoactive substances. Specifically, DAWN captures data on ED visits related to recent substance use and misuse, such as alcohol use, illicit drug use, and non-medical use of pharmaceuticals.

In addition to this report, SAMHSA also released five brief DAWN profiles that cover COVID-19, Alcohol, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, as well as Heroin & Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioids. ED visits for Nonmedical Use of the Most Common Opioids by Community Type ED visits related to non-medical use of pharmaceuticals focused on opioids, were responsible for 7,726 ED visits. The five opioids most commonly associated with ED visits were fentanyl, oxycodone, methadone, buprenorphine, and hydrocodone.

SAMHSA is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with improving the quality and availability of treatment and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and the cost to society resulting from substance abuse and mental illnesses. For more information about SAMHSA please visit www.samhsa.gov.

The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is conducting an opioid prevention awareness campaign entitled “Keeping Glen Cove SAFE,” in order to educate and update the community regarding opioid use and its consequences. To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition or visit SAFE’s website to learn more about the Opioid Epidemic at www.safeglencove.org.