Substance Use Advisory Group (SUAG)

Background: Boulder County Substance Use Advisory Group

The Substance Use Advisory Group is specifically working toward preventing fatal overdoses, destigmatizing substance use disorders (SUDs), promoting harm reduction, and supporting affected individuals in treatment and recovery.

Learn More

• Statistics & Opioid Landscape Analysis
• Colorado Health Institute – Colorado Drug Overdose Death Rate
• Opioid Overdose Talking Points
• What to Do if Your Child Is Prescribed an Opioid
• Boulder County Data on Opioid Use

Framework for the Boulder County Substance Use Advisory Group

The Substance Use Advisory Group is an inclusive group of individuals, organizations, and community members dedicated to preventing and responding to the opioid issue in Boulder County. Addressing opioids requires significant collaboration and social change across a broad cross-section of local participants. The Substance Use Advisory Group is moving toward a collective impact approach in which participants agree to a common agenda, engage in continuous communication, engage in planning, and work toward creating a shared measurement system.

Current Areas of Focus

The Substance Use Advisory Group has identified several focus areas to address the opioid crisis in Boulder County.

The areas of focus include:

• Primary Prevention
• Public Awareness
• Provider Education
• Community Involvement
• Harm Reduction
• Business Sector
• Criminal Justice Initiatives
• Treatment Access
• Recovery Support
• Community Members with Lived Experience
• Youth, student, and family education and prevention
• Criminal Justice Initiatives (Boulder County Drug Task Force, Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, and Boulder County Jail)

Boulder County Public Health serves as the backbone organization and provides dedicated staff to coordinate the initiative.

Substance Use Advisory Group Meetings

The Substance Use Advisory Group is a group of individuals, organizations, and community members who want to prevent and respond to the opioid crisis in Boulder County.

Upcoming Meetings

Quarterly in-person meetings. Monthly calendar invite with virtual invitation upon request.

Meeting Records

2023 Minutes

• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

2022 Minutes

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August
• No July meeting
• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

2021 Minutes

• December
• November
• October
• September
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

2020 Minutes

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August
• July
• June
• May
• February
• January

2019 Minutes

• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

Local Partners Leading Focus Areas

The Substance Use Advisory Group is an inclusive group of individuals, organizations and community members dedicated to preventing and responding to the opioid issue in Boulder County. Meetings are open for anyone to attend and participate and members continuously contribute to implementing strategies across varying areas of focus.

Partners have been identified in:

• Prevention
• Non-profit
• Governmental agencies
• Treatment and recovery
• Law enforcement and criminal justice
• Clinical and pharmacy professionals
• Community organizations and community partners

A key focus is to elevate the voice of individuals directly affected including affected family, individuals in recovery, individuals in treatment, chronic pain patients and individuals currently using. An aim is to include these voices in the development of strategies.

The Substance Use Advisory Group is continuing to work to identify strategies to strengthen systems and policies to meet its goals.

Substance Use Advisory Group Partners

Prevention

• Boulder County Area Agency on Aging
• Boulder County Community Services
• Boulder County District Attorney
• Boulder County Public Health
• Boulder County Resource Conservation
• Boulder Valley School District
• Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention
• Communities that Care
• El Centro Amistad
• Healthy Futures Coalition
• OutBoulder
• Vrain Valley Schools
• University of Colorado Boulder

Substance Use Advisory Group Partners

Clinical Partners

• American Medical Response (AMR)
• Boulder Community Health
• Boulder County Medical Society
• Clinica Family Health
• Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention
• Salud Family Health Centers
• University of Colorado Boulder

Treatment & Recovery Parnters

• Alkermes
• Behavioral Health Group
• Boulder Community Health (BCH)
• Boulder Integrated Health
• Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow
• Bridge House
• Collegiate Recovery Center at the University of Colorado
• Denver Recovery Group
• Front Range Clinic (FRC)
• Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health
• Mental Health Partners
• Northstar Transitions
• PILLAR Program

Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice

• Boulder County Adult Integrated Treatment Court
• Boulder County Community Services
• Boulder County Coroner
• Boulder County District Attorney
• Boulder County Drug Task Force
• Boulder County Jail
• Boulder County Sheriff
• City of Longmont Public Safety
• Colorado Probation – 20th Judicial District
• Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
• University of Colorado Police

Alignment with Statewide Partners

Boulder County Opioid Advisory Group partners closely with state partners including:

• Colorado Consortium for Prescription Abuse & Prevention (the Consortium)
• Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
• Office of Behavioral Health
• Colorado Substance Abuse Trend & Response Task Force (Colorado Attorney General’s Office)

Opioid Policy

Bill Limits Initial Opioid Prescription to 7 Days and Requires Checking Database

• Summary of Opioid Prescribing Bill for Physicians

On May 21, 2018, Colorado joined many other states by passing Senate Bill 18-022 to address opioid prescribing. The bill requires prescribers (e.g., physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses with prescribing authority, podiatrists, optometrists, dentists, and veterinarians) to limit the initial prescription of an opioid to no more than a seven-day supply. For outpatient care, after prescribing the first opioid prescription, the prescriber is required to check the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) database before prescribing additional opioids. The prescriber may exercise discretion to prescribe the second additional 7-day opioid supply.

The law does not apply to patients who:

• Have a history of chronic pain that, in the judgment of the physician, will likely last more than 90 days
• Have cancer-related pain
• Receive hospice or palliative care
• Have undergone a surgical procedure with pain expected to last more than 14 days due to the nature of the procedure
• Received an opioid narcotic prescription from the same prescribing physician within the past 12 months

Substance Use Advisory Group Progress

Resources

• Substance Use Advisory Group Accomplishments for 2018
• Collective Impact Strategies
• 2017 Annual Report
• Provider Recommendations for Opioid Practices
• Strategies for Standardizing Opioid Practices

NACo 2018 Award Winner

The Boulder County Substance Use Advisory Group is a winner of the National Association of Counties Achievement Award for 2018.

Annual Reporting

• Vision for a Coordinated Response
• Behavioral Health Data Summary
• Behavioral Health Data Indicators
• Best Practices for Treating Mental Health & Substance Use Disorders
• Recommendations for a Coordinated Behavioral Health System in Boulder County