As of June 27, 2023, all DEA registrants must complete a minimum of 8 hours of training on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders. This 8-hour activity meets the training criteria outlined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to fulfill the requirements of the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act.

The United States faces a crisis of deaths from opioids, stimulants, synthetic agents, tobacco and alcohol. These deaths represent a mere fraction of the total number of Americans harmed by substance misuse, and many people suffer daily from chronic use disorders. The long-term effects of substance misuse impact individuals, families, and communities. This is further compounded by changing patterns of substance misuse, as well as an increasing incidence of polysubstance use. The rise in fentanyl use or exposure, concurrent substance misuse, as well as overdose deaths, necessitates consideration of educational elements that promote understanding of SUDs, as well as their identification, treatment, and management.

Federal and state policy over the last decade has sought to overcome the long-term effects of substance misuse impacting individuals, families, communities, and those charged with resource allocation. Most recently, Section 1263 of the ‘Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023’ otherwise known as the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act, requires new or renewing Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registrants, as of June 27, 2023, to have completed a total of at least 8 hours of training on opioid or other substance use disorders, as well as the safe pharmacological management of dental pain.

Practitioners can meet this requirement in one of three ways:

• Complete a total of 8-hours of training from a range of training entities on opioid or other substance use disorders; or
• Board certification in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry from the American Board of Medical Specialties, American Board of Addiction Medicine, or the American Osteopathic Association; or
• Graduation within 5 years and in good standing from a medical, advanced practice nursing, or physician assistant school in the United States that included successful completion of an opioid or other substance use disorder curriculum of at least 8 hours. This curriculum must have included teaching on the treatment and management of patients with opioid and other substance use disorders, including the appropriate clinical use of all drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of a substance use disorder.

See SAMHSA Recommendations for more details.

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