Current Approaches at Minimizing the Consequences of Prenatal Exposure to Opioids in the AI/AN Populations of California

Public project summary

The opioid epidemic is a major public-health concern that has taken a toll on 564,000 lives. Of the large population of adults who are becoming more reliant on these addictive drugs, it is important to also examine the effects that the opioid epidemic has had on the prenatal population. As a result, there is also a large population of infants who are born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Currently, the American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) populations are disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic with the highest rates of NAS in California. This research fouces on current programs that are currently in place to decrease the effects of the opioid epidemic on the AI/AN population.