General Session - Understanding the Evolving Drug Landscape: From Epidemiology to Clinical Practice
-
Register
- Non-Member - $39
- Regular Member - $29
- Retired - $29
- Early Career Physician - $29
- Resident - $19
- Student - $19
- Associate - $19
- ASAM Staff - Free!
- International Member - $29
- Emeritus Member - $29
- Provisional Member - $29
- Fellow Member - $29
- Honorary Member - $29
- CRT Member - $29
General Session - Understanding the Evolving Drug Landscape: From Epidemiology to Clinical Practice
Recorded: Thursday, April 23, 2026 to Sunday, April 26, 2026
On-Demand Session
Overview
This 75-minute on-demand session from the ASAM 57th Annual Conference addresses the evolving drug landscape, bridging epidemiological trends with practical clinical applications for addiction medicine practitioners.
This session explores the rapidly evolving illicit drug landscape, emphasizing how shifting epidemiologic trends and an increasingly unpredictable drug supply are reshaping clinical practice. Speakers highlight recent changes in overdose patterns, including a historic decline in deaths alongside persistent disparities across populations and regions. The discussion examines the growing complexity of the drug supply, including variability in fentanyl composition, the emergence of novel substances (e.g., nitazenes, medetomidine), and the role of additives and polysubstance exposure. Panelists also demonstrate how community drug-checking data provide real-time insights into these changes and inform both clinical decision-making and public health responses. Finally, the session connects these epidemiologic and pharmacologic trends to practical clinical implications, including recognition and management of new toxidromes and the need for adaptive, data-informed care strategies.
The target audience for this Introductory level session includes physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, other clinicians, researchers, residents, fellows, and students.
This session addresses the following ACGME Competencies: Patient Care and Procedural Skills, Medical Knowledge, Systems-based Practice.
This session addresses the following IPEC Competencies: Communication.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion, learners will be able to:
- Analyze evolving epidemiologic trends in illicit drug use and the drug supply
- Recognize pharmacologic and clinical features of emerging substances
- Apply data-informed, policy-aware clinical strategies
Registration Rates
| Rate Description | Rate |
| ASAM Member | $29 |
| Non-Member | $39 |
| Associate Member | $19 |
| Resident Member* | $19 |
| Student Member* | $19 |
*Residents, Fellows-in-training, Interns, and Students must join ASAM to receive a discounted registration rate. Click here to become an ASAM member. National and Chapter membership dues apply. There is no charge for Students to become a Member, but verification of student status is required.
Membership Question? Call ASAM at 1.301.656.3920, email us, or view the ASAM website for more information.
Refunds & Cancellations
All ASAM eLearning Center refund requests must be made in writing to education@asam.org within 90 days of purchase. Those requesting refunds for courses that are in progress will receive partial refunds or e-Learning Center credit. Automatic full refunds will be made for any course with a live-course component that has been cancelled.
Registration Open: 05/25/2026 - 04/25/2029
User Access Closed: 05/25/2029
Course Instructions
- Click on the Contents tab to watch the on-demand recording.
- Click Complete Post Test to answer multiple choice questions. You will have 10 attempts to pass and must answer 4 out of 5 questions correctly.
- Click Complete Evaluation to provide valuable activity feedback. Scroll down on all questions as there may be answer options that expand past the size of the window.
- Click the button Claim Medical Credits in the box titled Claim Credits & Certificate. Choose the type of credit and click submit. Click the button View/Print Certificate to save or print your certificate. You can view/print your certificate at any time by visiting the ASAM eLearning Center, clicking Dashboard, and clicking Transcript/Achievements.
Need Assistance?
For assistance logging in, accessing activities, claiming credit, or for other questions or concerns, please check the FAQ page or e-mail Education@ASAM.org
ASAM is proud to offer Essential Accessibility to ensure our website is accessible and functional for all our learners while providing free assistive technology for people with the widest possible range of abilities.
Traci Green
PhD, MSc
Dr. Green is Deputy Director of the Boston Medical Center Injury Prevention Center and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University. She is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on drug abuse, addiction, and injury. She earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University and a PhD in Epidemiology from Yale University. She helped design the ASI-MV®, a real-time illicit and prescription drug abuse surveillance system developed by Inflexxion, Inc. Dr. Green helped co-found www.prescribetoprevent.org, chairs the Drug Overdose Prevention and Rescue Coalition for the Rhode Island Department of Health, and serves as an advisor to the Rhode Island Governor on addiction and overdose. Her research is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Department of Justice.
Joseph D'Orazio, MD, FAAEM, FACMT, FASAM, FCPP
Director, Division of Medical Toxicology & Addiction Medicine
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Dr. Joseph D'Orazio is an emergency physician, medical toxicologist, and addiction medicine specialist at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. He cares for Temple patients in a variety of settings, including the emergency department, an inpatient consultative service for addiction medicine and toxicology, the TRUST Clinic (an office-based opioid treatment program), and Begin the Turn (Temple's low-barrier access street-side medicine program). Dr. D’Orazio is a medical toxicologist for the Poison Control Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is regarded as a regional expert regarding substance use and substance use disorder treatment in Philadelphia.
Kirsten Smith
PhD, MSW
Dr. Kirsten Smith is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program in the Translational Addiction Medicine Branch and the Real-world Assessment, Prediction, and Treatment Unit. After receiving her Master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Kentucky and working directly with people with substance use disorders, Dr. Smith pivoted to a scientific career to better understand problems she observed in the clinic. Dr. Smith began investigating kratom in 2017 and is now studying its use in real-world settings, using survey and social-media analyses. Dr. Smith is extending this to include ecological momentary assessment and kratom product assay, which can inform an interdisciplinary line of laboratory studies ranging from observational work to randomized behavioral-pharmacology experiments. Dr. Smith serves as the Lead Associate Investigator on a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial examining the withdrawal-suppression efficacy of a biased agonist in humans with opioid-use disorder. Concurrently, Dr. Smith is developing protocols for studying kratom, which she plans to continue as she transitions into a tenure-track university position.
Timothy Wiegard
MD
Dr. Wiegand holds board certification in internal medicine, medical toxicology and clinical pharmacology. He completed his Postgraduate Fellowships in Medical Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco in 2006. His current position is as the Director of Toxicology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York where he holds an appointment in Emergency Medicine as Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital and Highland Hospital. In addition to his positions at the University of Rochester Dr. Wiegand Directs the Toxicology Consult Service at Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals, serves as Medical Director of Huther-Doyle Chemical Dependency treatment program in Rochester, NY, and treats acute alcohol and opioid withdrawal at the Syracuse Behavioral Health (SBH) Rochester detoxification facility. He is also faculty for the SUNY Upstate Medical Toxicology Fellowship training program and serves as on-call toxicologist for the SUNY Upstate Poison Center. Dr. Wiegand directs a clinical rotation in medical toxicology for the Strong Memorial Hospital Emergency Medicine residency program and is involved in toxicology, pharmacology and addiction medicine education for fellows, residents, and students in pharmacy and medicine. His interests include the treatment of acute intoxication and treatment of alcohol, opioid and other drug withdrawal syndromes and in the treatment and prevention of addiction and dependence. He has been treating opioid dependence since 2005 as an SAMHSA-waived OBOT provider. Dr. Wiegand has published in the areas of acute intoxication, withdrawal and treatment and prevention of drug overdose and in medical education in toxicology and emergency medicine and in the development, billing and reimbursement related to clinical toxicology practice. He is a section editor for the Encyclopedia of Toxicology, 3rd edition and has published numerous journal articles and textbook chapters on toxicology and related topics. Dr. Wiegand won the 2013 American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Annual MedSci research award for best abstract for research involving addiction medicine education during medical toxicology fellowship training. Dr. Wiegand is the Chair for the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) Addiction Medicine section and he was appointed to the New York chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (NYSAM) Board of Governors as Communication Committee Chair and Board Member in 2013. He has been increasingly active in ASAM and in his state chapter, NYSAM, since 2011.
Accreditation & Credit Designation Statements
Joint Accreditation Statement
In support of improving patient care, the American Society of Addiction Medicine is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Physicians
The American Society of Addiction Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Nurses
This activity awards 1.25 Nursing contact hours.
Pharmacology Hours
This activity has 0.50 hour that satisfy the requirements for NP and PA Pharmacology Hours.
PAs
ASAM has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1.25 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.25 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. Approval is valid until 05/25/2029. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.
Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, ASAM is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 1.25 general continuing education credits.
IPCE Credit
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 1.25 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.
California Association for Drug/Alcohol Educators (CAADE)
This educational program is approved by CAADE: #CP40 999 1225.
California Association of DUI Treatment Centers (CADTP)
This educational program is approved by CADTP: #205.
California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP)
This educational program is approved by CCAPP: # OS-20-330-0227.
Other Professions - Continuing Education Credits (CEUs)
Upon completion of the activity and online evaluation, all other participants may request a certificate of participation. Participants may submit this certificate of participation to their professional organization/institute as documentation for completing this accredited continuing activity.
Maintenance of Certification (MOC) or Continuing Certification Programs (CCP)
This activity is designed to meet the requirements for MOC/CCP for several primary physician boards and for state licensing CME requirements. MOC Credit is only reported and designated for ABA, ABIM, ABP and ABS. By completing the online credit claim and evaluation, the learner permits ASAM to report credits to the appropriate Board. Learn more.
American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA)
This activity offers up to 1.25 CME credits, of which 1.25 credits contribute the patient safety CME component of the American Board of Anesthesiology’s redesigned Maintenance of Certification in AnesthesiologyTM (MOCA®) program, known as MOCA 2.0®. Please consult the ABA website, www.theABA.org, for a list of all MOCA 2.0 requirements.
Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology® and MOCA® are registered certification marks of the American Board of Anesthesiology®
American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.25 Medical Knowledge MOC points and patient safety MOC credit in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.
American Board of Pediatrics (ABP)
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn up to 1.25 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABP MOC credit.
American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM)
This activity has been designed to satisfy the Lifelong Professional Development requirements of The American Board of Preventive Medicine’s Continuing Certification (CCP) requirements. These credits are not reported directly to ABPM. Please save your certificate for your records.
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN)
This activity has been designed to satisfy the CME requirements of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s Continuing Certification (CC) requirements. These credits are not reported directly to ABPN. Please save your certificate for your records.
American Board of Surgery (ABS)
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME requirement of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABS credit.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC)
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada will recognize activities registered for CME for MOC as meeting the requirements for Royal College MOC Program Section 3 (Self-Assessment Programs) credits. Visit CME that Counts for Royal College MOC for more information.
Disclosure Information
In accordance with the disclosure policies of ASAM and Joint Accreditation, the effort is made to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all accredited continuing education activities. These policies include identifying and mitigating all relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies for those involved in the creation and dissemination of accredited continuing education. Click here to view the full disclosure listing.
Key:
Complete
Next
Failed
Available
Locked