The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have released guidance on a mandatory 8-hour training requirement on substance use disorder (SUD) treatment that every practitioner will need to complete in order to receive or renew their DEA license.

Specifically, SAMHSA released recommendations and the DEA issued specific guidance on how practitioners can meet this requirement. The eight required hours of training can occur in classroom settings, professional society meetings, virtual platforms, or via other accredited continuing education sources. Practitioners who previously attended training to meet the requirements of the DATA-2000 waiver to prescribe buprenorphine can count this training towards the 8-hour training requirement. In general, SAMHSA recommends content be related to prevention, recognition, and care of people with substance use disorders including those with concurrent pain and/or psychiatric and medical co-morbidities. Overarching core training categories include: SUD, Effective Tx Planning, and Pain Management and Substance Misuse.

The requirement stems from a provision that was included in the major omnibus bill that Congress passed at the end of 2022. This is the same legislation that repealed the X-waiver requirement for prescribing medications for opioid use disorder (OUD). Although repealing the X-waiver was a top legislative priority, stakeholders convinced Congress that additional education was also necessary to promote best practices in the treatment of OUD and SUD more generally and to encourage more practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine.

Read more on the new requirement: https://www.aaap.org/requirements-for-training-for-medication-assistant-treatment-as-part-of-the-mate-act/