Publications - Heroin, Opioids, Pain Medication, and Prescription Drugs

Explores the relationship between prescription opioid abuse and heroin use, including prescription opioid use as a risk factor for heroin use, reasons why people progress from using prescription opioids to heroin, and the need for prevention and treatment.

This brief fact sheet discusses the risks of untreated opioid use disorder during pregnancy, particularly neonatal abstinence syndrome, and provides evidence-based treatment options that have been shown to be safe and effective.

This brief fact sheet provides information about the risks of prescription opioid pain relievers and a summary of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Guideline for Opioid Prescribing for Pain.

This brief fact sheet provides information about the life-saving drug naloxone, which can reverse an opioid overdose, including how it works and where to get it.

This brief fact sheet provides information about the effectiveness of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders and recent scientific advances in this area.

Offers basic facts about the synthetic opioid Fentanyl including how it is abused, its affect on the brain, and other health effects. In Spanish

Offers the latest research findings on prescription drug misuse, including the classes of prescription drugs that are most commonly misused, possible effects on the brain and body, and treatment options for prescription drug addiction. In Spanish

A plain-language research summary about heroin, including basic facts such as methods of use, its effects on the brain, other health effects, and treatment options. 

A plain language summary of prescription opioids that explains effects on the brain and reported use. In Spanish

Offers the latest scientific information on heroin use and its consequences as well as treatment options available for those struggling with heroin addiction.  In Spanish