Global Innovations in Overdose Prevention: Which Strategies Used Internationally Could the United States Adopt to Curb Youth Deaths?

Friday, April 25, 2025

4:00pm – 5:30pm HST

Location: Convention Center: 315

CE: CME: 1.5
Pain Management CME: 1.5

Selected By: PAS Program Committee Leadership Team
Co-sponsored By: SAHM

Chair(s)

Scott Hadland, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP (he/him/his)

Division Chief / Associate Professor
Mass General for Children / Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Disclosure(s):

Scott E. Hadland, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Drug overdoses among US adolescents and young adults (hereafter, “youth”) reached an all-time high in 2022, and drug poisonings are now the third leading cause of death among Americans under age 19. Three in four deaths among youth involve fentanyl, a highly potent opioid illicitly manufactured to look like prescription opioids (e.g., oxycodone) and benzodiazepines (e.g., alprazolam). Although the US leads most other nations in drug overdose mortality, it has not yet adopted many innovative, evidence-based strategies used in other countries to prevent overdoses. In particular, Canada, which has been comparably impacted by the fentanyl overdose crisis, has implemented several novel overdose prevention interventions in a North American context.

This panel will share innovative approaches to addressing overdose and opioid addiction in youth based on experiences from outside the US. Presenters will include adolescent health experts from the US and Canada. Presentations will cover: (1) novel approaches to testing drug safety, including community-based testing centers; (2) the evidence behind medically supervised safe consumption sites, with an emphasis on how such services can serve as a point of contact for youth addiction treatment; and (3) unique approaches to medication treatment for opioid addiction, including primary care-based treatment with methadone, use of slow-release morphine to address cravings and withdrawal, and prescriptions for hydromorphone to reduce individuals’ reliance on the illicit drug market.

The session will end with a moderated discussion to offer a balanced view of these interventions’ effectiveness, potential unintended consequences, legal considerations, and opportunities to engage youth with healthcare systems.

Learning Objectives:

Describe how novel drug-checking technology and take-home test strips can help adolescents and young adults (“youth”) identify drug contamination with fentanyl and other adulterants.
Summarize the evidence base for medically supervised safe consumption sites and their role in overdose prevention and linkage to addiction treatment, particularly for youth.
Delineate novel pharmacotherapies to treat opioid use disorder and prevent overdose, and assess the evidence base for their use in youth.

Presentations:

4:00pm – 4:05pm HST

Introduction
Speaker: Scott E. Hadland, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP (he/him/his) – Mass General for Children / Harvard Medical School
4:05pm – 4:25pm HST

The Evidence Behind Medical Supervised Consumption Sites and Opportunities to Engage Youth
Speaker: Sarah Bagley, MD, MSc (she/her/hers) – Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
4:25pm – 4:45pm HST

Community-based Drug Checking and Take-home Test Strips for Youth
Speaker: Matt Carwana, MD MPH (he/him/his) – The University of British Columbia
4:45pm – 5:05pm HST

Novel Medications for Opioid Use Disorder and Youth Perspectives on Treatment
Speaker: Danya Fast, MA, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine
5:05pm – 5:30pm HST

Panel Discussion