Prevention is critical to reducing overdoses and overdose deaths. The strategy promotes tiered, multidisciplinary prevention activities, ranging from population-level strategies to targeted interventions aimed at high-risk individuals. These activities engage health and human services providers directly and facilitate cross-sector collaboration on prevention.
This page highlights current federal activities that support prevention by expanding research of new and improved prevention efforts, investing in community resources to help prevent harms related to substance use, increasing access to high-quality pain management to reduce preventable suffering, and promoting responsible prescription of medications to protect patient safety.
Support research and surveillance to develop and improve delivery of prevention interventions.
The HEAL Preventing Opioid Use Disorder Research Program
This program aims to prevent opioid misuse and use disorder through investments in research on risk identification; intervention development; social determinants, health equity, and policy; and dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of effective prevention strategies.
Lead Agency:
NIH
Surveillance for Overdose and Substance Use Related Harms
Lead Agency:
CDC
NIH's Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study
Lead Agency:
NIH
Partner Agency:
CDC
Transformed-Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) Data for Substance Use Disorder Trends
Lead Agency:
CMS
Facilitate the development and implementation of evidence-based primary prevention across the lifespan.
Strategic Prevention Framework - Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) grant program
SPF-PFS provides grants for states and grants for communities, local governments, universities, colleges and tribes/tribal organizations. A foundational investment for substance use prevention in the U.S., the program focuses on preventing substance use initiation and reducing the progression of substance use and related problems by supporting the development and delivery of state and community substance use prevention and mental health promotion strategies. In FY 2023, SAMHSA awarded $42.6 million in SPF-PFS grants to 17 states and 60 communities.
Lead Agency:
SAMHSA
Overdose Data to Action (OD2A)
Lead Agency:
CDC
Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: Data to Action
Lead Agency:
CDC
2021 State Pilot Grant Program for Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women
Lead Agency:
SAMHSA
Prioritize Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) Admissions for Pregnant Patients
Lead Agency:
SAMHSA
Support development of and promote evidence-based treatments to effectively manage pain.
CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids – United States, 2022 and Other Health System Activities
CDC is updating and expanding the 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, based on updated evidence and data, drawing from the contributions of multiple stakeholder groups of researchers, patients, providers, and other key participants. The updated guideline will be supplemented with a set of enhanced communication resources and training materials.
Explore frequently asked questions on prescribing opioids for chronic pain
Lead Agency:
CDC
Partner Agency:
AHRQ, CMS, FDA, HHS, HRSA, IHS, NIH, ONC, SAMHSA
NIH HEAL Initiative Clinical Research in Pain Management
Lead Agency:
NIH
Systematic Review Series on Pain Management
Lead Agency:
AHRQ
Partner Agency:
CDC
Reduce clinically inappropriate prescribing of medications with misuse potential.
Addressing the Safe Use of Benzodiazepines
To better educate the patient and prescriber communities about the safe use of benzodiazepines (medications also known as sedatives or tranquilizers), the FDA is working with the medical community to improve patient education, support research on tapering and withdrawal, and more effectively gather perspectives from patients, providers and communities.
Lead Agency:
FDA
Over Prescriber Support Strategy (OPSS)
Lead Agency:
CMS
General Research.
Featured Activity The impact of hydrocodone rescheduling on utilization, abuse, misuse, and overdose deaths
Lead Agency:
FDA
Acute pain pathways: protocol for a prospective cohort study
Lead Agency:
FDA
Evaluating opioid analgesic prescribing limits: A narrative review
Lead Agency:
FDA
Partner Agency:
CDC, NIH
Assessment of a Modified Sandwich Estimator for Generalized Estimating Equations with Application to Opioid Poisoning in MIMIC-IV ICU Patients
Lead Agency:
FDA
This is your teen brain on drugs: In search of biological factors unique to dependence toxicity in adolescence
Lead Agency:
FDA
Pain Severity and Interference and Substance Use among Community Pharmacy Patients Prescribed Opioids: A Secondary Analysis of the PHARMSCREEN Study
Lead Agency:
NIH
Assessment of Screening Tools to Identify Substance Use Disorders Among Adolescents
Lead Agency:
NIH
Development and implementation of a prescription opioid registry across diverse health systems
Lead Agency:
NIH
Development and implementation of a prescription opioid registry across diverse health systems
Lead Agency:
NIH
A Brief Screening and Assessment Tool for Opioid Use in Adults: Results from a Validation Study of the Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription Medication, and Other Substances Tool
Lead Agency:
NIH
AI-based analysis of social media language predicts addiction treatment dropout at 90 days
Lead Agency:
NIH
Methodological Strategies for Prospective Harmonization of Studies: Application to 10 Distinct Outcomes Studies of Preventive Interventions Targeting Opioid Misuse
Lead Agency:
NIH
Need for comprehensive and timely data to address the opioid overdose epidemic without a blindfold
Lead Agency:
NIH
Including Community Partners in the Development and Adaptation of Intervention Strategies to Prevent Initiation or Escalation of Opioid Misuse
Lead Agency:
NIH
COVID-related social determinants of substance use disorder among diverse U.S. racial ethnic groups
Lead Agency:
NIH
Transforming the Future of Adolescent Health: Opportunities from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
Lead Agency:
NIH
The prevalence of opioid use disorder in Kentucky's counties: A two-year multi-sample capture-recapture analysis
Lead Agency:
NIH
Linguistic predictors from Facebook postings of substance use disorder treatment retention versus discontinuation
Lead Agency:
NIH
The Rural Opioid Initiative Consortium description: providing evidence to Understand the Fourth Wave of the Opioid Crisis
Lead Agency:
NIH
Prevention of Opioid Use and Disorder Among Youth Involved in the Legal System: Innovation and Implementation of Four Studies Funded by the NIDA HEAL Initiative
Lead Agency:
NIH
Culturally Responsive Opioid and Other Drug Prevention for American Indian/Alaska Native People: A Comparison of Reservation- and Urban-Based Approaches
Lead Agency:
NIH
Leveraging the Full Continuum of Care to Prevent Opioid Use Disorder
Lead Agency:
NIH
Predicting U.S. county opioid poisoning mortality from multi-modal social media and psychological self-report data
Lead Agency:
NIH
Introduction to Helping to End Addiction Long-Term Prevention Cooperative: Overview and Strategies
Lead Agency:
NIH
Measuring disadvantage: A systematic comparison of United States small-area disadvantage indices
Lead Agency:
NIH
Opioid death projections with AI-based forecasts using social media language
Lead Agency:
NIH
Role of the media in promoting the dehumanization of people who use drugs
Lead Agency:
NIH
The impact of the national stay-at-home order on emergency department visits for suspected opioid overdose during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
Lead Agency:
NIH
Opioid Use Disorder Among Ohio's Medicaid Population: Prevalence Estimates From 19 Counties Using a Multiplier Method
Lead Agency:
NIH
Disparities in Opioid Overdose Death Trends by Race/Ethnicity, 2018-2019, From the HEALing Communities Study
Lead Agency:
NIH
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Drug Overdose Deaths in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Lead Agency:
NIH
Partner Agency:
CDC
Impact of Medicaid expansion and methadone coverage as a medication for opioid use disorder on foster care entries during the opioid crisis
Lead Agency:
CDC
Cannabis sales increases during COVID-19: Findings from Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington
Lead Agency:
CDC
Notes from the Field: Testing for Nonprescribed Fentanyl and Percentage of Positive Test Results Among Patients with Opioid Use Disorder — United States, 2019–2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Opioid Overdose Surveillance: Improving Data to Inform Action
Lead Agency:
CDC
Prevalences of and Characteristics Associated with Single-and Polydrug-Involved U.S. Emergency Department Visits in 2018
Lead Agency:
CDC
Trends and Characteristics of Drug Overdose Deaths Involving Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyls - United States, 2019-2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
The evolution of the overdose epidemic and CDC's research response: A commentary
Lead Agency:
CDC
Association between county-level sociodemographic characteristics and county-level differences in opioid dispensing
Lead Agency:
CDC
Drug overdose deaths involving cocaine and psychostimulants with abuse potential among racial and ethnic groups - United States, 2004-2019
Lead Agency:
CDC
Impact of Community-Level Prevention Strategies on High-Dose Opioid Dispensing Rates: 2014-2019
Lead Agency:
CDC
Congruence of opioid prescriptions and dispensing using electronic records and claims data
Lead Agency:
CDC
Characteristics of Adults Reporting Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl or Heroin Use or Prescription Opioid Misuse in The United States, 2019
Lead Agency:
CDC
Signals of increasing co-use of stimulants and opioids from online drug forum data
Lead Agency:
CDC
Concerns among people who use opioids during the COVID-19 pandemic: a natural language processing analysis of social media posts
Lead Agency:
CDC
Evaluating opioid analgesic prescribing limits: A narrative review
Lead Agency:
FDA
Partner Agency:
CDC, NIH
Notes from the Field: Increase in Drug Overdose Deaths Among Hispanic or Latino Persons — Nevada, 2019–2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Drugs and Drug Classes Involved in Overdose Deaths Among Females, United States: 1999-2017
Lead Agency:
CDC
Prescription History Among Individuals Dispensed Opioid Prescriptions, 2017-2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Overdose: Lessons from Overdose Data to Action
Lead Agency:
CDC
The Martinsburg Initiative: a collaboration between public safety, public health, and schools to address trauma and substance use
Lead Agency:
CDC
Development and Validation of a Syndrome Definition for Suspected Nonfatal Unintentional/Undetermined Intent Stimulant-Involved Overdoses
Lead Agency:
CDC
Notes from the Field: Trends in Gabapentin Detection and Involvement in Drug Overdose Deaths — 23 States and the District of Columbia, 2019–2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Drug Overdose Deaths in 28 States and the District of Columbia: 2020 data from the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System
Lead Agency:
CDC
Methamphetamine use in the United States: epidemiological update and implications for prevention, treatment, and harm reduction
Lead Agency:
CDC
Partner Agency:
NIH
Characteristics of Adults Aged ≥18 Years Evaluated for Substance Use and Treatment Planning – United States, 2019
Lead Agency:
CDC
CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain - United States, 2022
Lead Agency:
CDC
Self-Reported Medical and Nonmedical Cannabis Use: Results from the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 14 States
Lead Agency:
CDC
Trends and characteristics of cannabis-associated emergency department visits in the United States, 2006-2018
Lead Agency:
CDC
Patterns in Nonopioid Pain Medication Prescribing After the Release of the 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
Lead Agency:
CDC
Project ECHO interprofessional telementoring: Using a novel case-based approach for building the U.S. Public Health Service clinical response in pain and substance use disorder
Lead Agency:
CDC
Partner Agency:
OIG
The Overdose Response Strategy: Reducing Drug Overdose Deaths Through Strategic Partnership Between Public Health and Public Safety
Lead Agency:
CDC
Notes from the Field: Overdose Deaths Involving Para-fluorofentanyl — United States, July 2020–June 2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
Estimating Weekly National Opioid Overdose Deaths in Near Real Time Using Multiple Proxy Data Sources
Lead Agency:
CDC
Trends in Concurrent Opioid and Benzodiazepine Prescriptions in the United States, 2016 to 2019
Lead Agency:
CDC
A qualitative assessment of circumstances surrounding drug overdose deaths during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
Lead Agency:
CDC
Risk factors for COVID-19 among persons with substance use disorder (PWSUD) with hospital visits - United States, April 2020-December 2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Vital Signs: Drug Overdose Deaths, by Selected Sociodemographic and Social Determinants of Health Characteristics - 25 States and the District of Columbia, 2019-2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Increases in Disparities in US Drug Overdose Deaths by Race and Ethnicity: Opportunities for Clinicians and Health Systems
Lead Agency:
CDC
First Responder Assertive Linkage Programs: A Scoping Review of Interventions to Improve Linkage to Care for People Who Use Drugs
Lead Agency:
CDC
Understanding State-Level Variations in Implementing Academic Detailing for Prescribing Opioids: Findings from 11 States Within the United States
Lead Agency:
CDC
Dose tapering, increases, and discontinuity among patients on long-term high-dose opioid therapy in the United States, 2017-2019
Lead Agency:
CDC
Evidence of the emergence of illicit benzodiazepines from online drug forums
Lead Agency:
CDC
Changes in Opioid Dispensing by Medical Specialties after Release of the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
Lead Agency:
CDC
Clarifying CDC’s Efforts to Quantify Overdose Deaths
Lead Agency:
CDC
Notes From the Field: Overdose Deaths Involving Eutylone (Psychoactive Bath Salts) — United States, 2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Pilot Case Study: A Framework for Multisector Public Health and Safety Teams Addressing the Overdose Epidemic
Lead Agency:
CDC
From Silos to Synergy: Public Health and Public Safety Collaborations to Reduce Drug Overdose
Lead Agency:
CDC
Improving Partnerships Between Public Health and Public Safety to Reduce Overdose Deaths: An Inventory from the CDC Overdose Data to Action Funding Initiative
Lead Agency:
CDC
Patient-Level and County-Level Trends in Nonfatal Opioid-Involved Overdose Emergency Medical Services Encounters — 491 Counties, United States, January 2018-March 2022
Lead Agency:
CDC
Analysis of trends and usage of ICD-10-CM discharge diagnosis codes for poisonings by fentanyl, tramadol, and other synthetic narcotics in emergency department data
Lead Agency:
CDC
Facilitating Overdose Risk Mitigation Among Patients Following a Clinician Office Closure: A Connecticut Case Study of the Opioid Rapid Response Program
Lead Agency:
CDC
Partner Agency:
OIG
Unintentional ingestion of putative delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol by two youth requiring critical care: A case report
Lead Agency:
CDC
Associations between prescription stimulant use as prescribed, nonmedical use, and illicit stimulant use among adults evaluated for substance use treatment, 2017-2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
Factors That Affect Opioid Quality Improvement Initiatives in Primary Care: Insights from Ten Health Systems
Lead Agency:
CDC
Change in opioid and buprenorphine prescribers and prescriptions by specialty, 2016–2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
Increases in methamphetamine injection among treatment admissions in the U.S.
Lead Agency:
CDC
Partner Agency:
NIH
Cannabis-Involved Emergency Department Visits Among Persons Aged< 25 Years Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic—United States, 2019–2022
Lead Agency:
CDC
Characterization of Nonfatal Opioid, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, and Polydrug Exposure and Clinical Presentations Reported to the Toxicology Investigators Consortium Core Registry, January 2010-December 2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
School Connectedness and Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
County-level social vulnerability and nonfatal drug overdose emergency department visits and hospitalizations, January 2018–December 2020
Lead Agency:
CDC
Medication-Associated Diethylene Glycol Mass Poisoning – A Preventable Cause of Illness and Death
Lead Agency:
CDC
Drug Overdose Deaths with Evidence of Counterfeit Pill Use — United States, July 2019–December 2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
Trends and Characteristics of Buprenorphine-Involved Overdose Deaths Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Lead Agency:
CDC
Partner Agency:
NIH
Suspected Nonfatal Cocaine-Involved Overdoses Overall and with Co-involvement of Opioids
Lead Agency:
CDC
Medical Costs of Substance Use Disorders in the US Employer-Sponsored Insurance Population
Lead Agency:
CDC
Hospitalization Associated with Comorbid Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders Among Adults with COVID-19 Treated in US Emergency Departments from April 2020 to August 2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl-Involved Overdose Deaths with Detected Xylazine-United States, January 2019-June 2022
Lead Agency:
CDC
Longitudinal dose patterns among patients newly initiated on long-term opioid therapy in the United States, 2018 to 2019: An observational cohort study and time-series cluster analysis
Lead Agency:
CDC
Achieving Reductions in Opioid Dispensing: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of State-Level Efforts to Improve Prescribing
Lead Agency:
CDC
Chronic Pain Among Adults - United States, 2019-2021
Lead Agency:
CDC
Scope of, Motivations for, and Outcomes Associated with Buprenorphine Diversion in the United States: A Scoping Review
Lead Agency:
CDC
Supporting Evidence-Based Care Through Informatics Innovation to Address the Overdose Epidemic
Lead Agency:
CDC
HEAL Preventing Opioid Use Disorder: A Vision for Research to Increase Access to Prevention Services
Lead Agency:
NIH