New DEA Education Requirement on Substance Use Disorders

The DEA has released guidance on the new one-time requirement for eight hours of training on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders (SUDs). ASAM offers a wide variety of education that meets the needs of all prescribers; from basics to advanced topics on addiction treatment, relevant to all specialties in all care settings. 

As an accredited organization named in Section 1263 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, ASAM recommends the following courses to meet the DEA requirement for 8 hours of education on SUD:

• Fundamentals of Addiction Medicine (8 hours)
• Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (8 hours)
• Pain & Addiction: Essentials Online (6 hours)
• Moving Beyond the Barriers of Treating OUD (3 hours)
• OUD Mini-Course: Treatment in the Emergency Department (1 hour)
• Buprenorphine Mini-Course: Building on Federal Prescribing Guidance (1 hour)

See the eLearning Center for more education options to fulfill this training requirement.

Important Considerations:

1. The education requirement refers to substance use disorders and not exclusively opioid use disorder, and the 8 hours can be completed cumulatively across multiple sessions that total 8 hours of training.
2. The following practitioners are deemed to have satisfied this requirement:
   • Holding board certification in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry by the American Board of Medical Specialties, American Board of Addiction Medicine, or American Osteopathic Association.
   • Previously completed the DATA-2000 Waiver training.
   • Previously completed 8 hours of cumulative training relevant to the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders from accredited groups named by the DEA.

See the official DEA letter to registered practitioners for more details and SAMHSA for additional guidance and recommendations for core elements of the required training.