MSU Extension Michigan Substance Use, Prevention, Education and Recovery (MiSUPER)

Aug. 31, 2023
Sept. 21, 2023
Oct. 26, 2023

2-3:15 p.m. EST

Online via Zoom

This webinar series explores the structural, social, and root determinants of health, the limitations of the brain disease model of addiction, and how criminalizing and punitive approaches to substance use are both normalized and exacerbating the overdose crisis. Presenters will highlight regional trends in opioid use, emphasize non-punitive strategies to support people who use drugs and/or are living in recovery, including harm reduction, and describe ways that communities can better support people who use drugs and their families. Participants will be encouraged to reimagine their roles and efforts in prevention, treatment, and recovery to be more aligned with health equity and justice principles.

Objectives:

1. Participants will learn what opioids are, what opioid misuse looks like, and the effects of opioids on the body.
2. Participants will learn how the opioid crisis looks in Michigan.
3. Participants will understand how systems and structures produce inequities in substance use disorder-related outcomes.
4. Participants will be able to identify alternatives to punitive and criminalizing approaches to substance use
5. Participants will learn about recovery norms and ways to de-stigmatize substance use

*Note: While many of the objectives broadly relate to substance use, particular attention will be given throughout the series to opioids and lived experiences of people who use opioids.

Part 1 on August 31:

• Shared language for health equity and justice in substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery
• Introduction to opioids and the current state of the opioid overdose crisis
• Risk factors
• The connection between trauma and addiction

Part 2 on September 21:

• Limits of the brain disease model of addiction
• Social determinants of addiction
• History of criminalizing and punitive approaches to substance use
• Systemic expressions of criminalizing and punitive approaches and stigma
  • Examples: Treatment courts, family policing and separation, diversion programs, treatment settings, Good Samaritan Laws

Part 3 on October 26:

• Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in recovery
• What do we know about recovery?
• Alternatives to criminalizing and punitive approaches
  • Example: Harm Reduction
• Recommendations and strategies for reimagining recovery and eliminating stigma

Who should attend? This webinar series is open to the public but particularly useful and relevant for people working in health care, behavioral health, first responders, social/human services, education, substance use, or anyone who is a mandated reporter.

Cost: FREE

The Great Lakes ROTA-RC is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide training and technical assistance (TA) to the rural communities of Health and Human Services Region 5:  Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Collaboratively, we develop and strengthen community capacity to prevent, treat, and support recovery for opioid use disorder and other mental health and substance use disorders, using a whole family/whole community approach to provide culturally appropriate educational opportunities. For more information, please visit the Michigan Substance Use Prevention Education and Recovery (MiSUPER) website.