More than 100,000 Americans lost their lives due to drug overdoses in the past year, while overly restrictive regulations on pharmacies are hampering access to buprenorphine, the only scheduled medication for opioid use disorder that’s authorized for dispensing at community pharmacy locations. Nearly 20 percent of those in need are not treated with an MOUD, and rates are persistently lower in Black populations. A viewpoint paper recently published in JAMA Health Forum, co-authored by Jonathan Watanabe, UCI professor of clinical pharmacy practice, discusses regulations that create dispensing obstacles at retail pharmacies and proposes policy solutions. Barriers range from the delay or suspension of buprenorphine to pharmacies by suppliers to pharmacists declining to fill legitimate prescriptions to the prohibition of home delivery. “These all threaten to accelerate an opioid epidemic that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and undermine progress on the federal level to expand treatment by reducing regulatory hurdles for clinicians to prescribe authorized medications that can be filled at pharmacies,” Watanabe said. Recommendations include easing federal regulations on prescribing buprenorphine for treating opioid use disorder and passing legislation requiring pharmacies to stock a minimum inventory of buprenorphine and to fill all valid prescriptions. “We are continuing to collaborate with leaders in academia, federal officials and other policymakers to eliminate obstacles and increase the availability of treatment,” Watanabe said. “It’s also encouraging to see the White House and Office of National Drug Control Policy continue their efforts to get ahead of this crisis.”