What’s the Latest? Xylazine

Presenter(s): Mary Figgatt, PhD Candidate (UNC) and Don Jackson (North Carolina Survivors Union)
Date: February 2023
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Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer that has been found mixed with other drugs like fentanyl and heroin. Evidence indicates overdose deaths involving xylazine have increased throughout the United States with the largest impact occurring in the Northeast and Puerto Rico. This webinar includes presenters from the North Carolina Survivors Union, who shared their experience responding to xylazine in their region.

What’s the Latest? Methamphetamine and Psychosis

Presenter(s): Jonathan Buchholz, MD
Date: March 2024
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Description
With the growing use of methamphetamine, methamphetamine associated psychosis is a problem that more and more providers are seeing. This problem can impact the ability of patients to engage with treatment providers and recommended treatments for medical, psychiatric, and addiction issues. This talk will describe what methamphetamine associated psychosis is and how it differs or does not differ from an underlying psychotic disorder. We will also spend time describing evidence-based approaches to addressing these symptoms and promote engagement and retention in care.

Speaker
After earning his medical degree, Dr. Buchholz continued at the University of Washington to complete his general psychiatry residency and addiction psychiatry fellowship. He is medical director of inpatient psychiatry at the VA Puget Sound and director of the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of Washington. He spends most of his clinical time on the inpatient psychiatry and the addiction consultation services caring for patients with co-occurring disorders at the Seattle VA. Dr. Buchholz is an assistant professor at the University of Washington with academic interests centered around improvement of education for substance use disorders to medical students, psychiatry residents, and addiction fellows. Dr. Buchholz has earned several teaching awards from the medical school, the general psychiatry residency, and the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department at the University of Washington.

What’s the Latest? Navigating Hepatitis C Care: Insights from Washington State

Presenter(s): Jonathan Stockton, MHA
Date: May 2024
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Join us for a webinar addressing the critical issue of Hepatitis C linkages to care in Washington, in alignment with State’s goal to be Hep C-free by 2030. We will review the current state of Hepatitis C in the region, discuss opportunities for viral eradication, and highlight strategies to integrate Hepatitis C treatment into primary care, with a focus on leveraging opioid treatment as an opportunity to screen and treat people with histories of substance use.

Our speakers include representatives from the Washington State Department of Health, who will provide an overview of the current Hepatitis C landscape in Washington. Following this presentation, we will host a panel discussion featuring clinicians from Peninsula Community Health Services and Harborview Medical Center. Panelists will share their experiences and strategies for successfully integrating Hepatitis C treatment into primary care within their respective settings.

What’s the Latest: Washington State Drug Trends

Presenter(s): Caleb Banta-Green, PhD, MPH, MSW
Date: March 2025
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This session focused on emerging drug trends in Washington State and the implications of recent mortality and drug checking data for MOUD patients and providers. Dr. Banta-Green shared insights into the drug supply from police evidence testing and community drug checking network results and reviewed recent data on drug-involved deaths. He also discussed how drug checking services inform harm reduction strategies and shared updates about drug checking initiatives across the state.

What’s the Latest? EMS-Initiated Buprenorphine

Presenter(s): City of Port Angeles Fire Department: Brian Gerdes (Paramedic) and Heather Whitmore, EMT; South County Fire in Snohomish County: Keith Sharp (CRP Captain, EMT) and Nicole Picknell (Community Paramedic Captain, Paramedic)
Date: June 2025
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Facilitators: Chris Buresh, MD, MPH Maureen Oscadal, MPH, BSN, RN

The session featured a panel discussion with fire fighters/paramedics from the City of Port Angeles Fire Department and South County Fire in Snohomish County. They shared their experiences and lessons learned from implementing buprenorphine initiations following overdose in the field in both urban and rural areas.

Topics included in the discussion:

• Challenges and successes in providing buprenorphine during emergency responses.
• Strategies for improving post-overdose care and connecting patients to ongoing services.
• The role of first responders in expanding access to MOUD and reducing overdose deaths.

What’s the Latest: Treating Alcohol Use Disorder

Presenter(s): Norah Essali, MD
Date: December 2024
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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) affects millions of individuals and remains one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide. Despite its prevalence, AUD is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. This webinar from the UW ADAI State Opioid Response Team (SOR) will explore the importance of assessing and treating AUD and provide an overview of the evidence supporting the use of medications to help patients achieve their treatment goals.

What’s the Latest? Behind the Design of a 24/7 Post-Overdose & MOUD Initiation Center 

What’s the Latest? Behind the Design of a 24/7 Post-Overdose & MOUD Initiation Center 

Presenter(s): Caleb Banta-Green, PhD, MPH, MSW; Daniel Malone; Susan McLaughlin, PhD; Michael R. Sayre, MD
Date: January 2026
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This webinar highlights the Opioid Recovery & Care Access (ORCA) Center, a 24/7, judgment-free space for recovery after overdose, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) initiation, and stabilization that opened in September 2025. It covers how local partners came together to develop and implement the center, and what metrics will be used to track program outcomes.

• Caleb Banta-Green, PhD, MPH, MSW, Director, Center for Community-Engaged Drug Education, Epidemiology and Research, Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute, University of Washington

• Daniel Malone, Executive Director, Downtown Emergency Service Center

• Susan McLaughlin, PhD, Director, King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Division

• Michael R. Sayre, MD, Medical Director, Seattle Fire Department; Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Washington