Treatment Guidelines: Substance Use Disorders

Alcohol Use Disorder

American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP)

• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Alcohol use disorder (2025)
• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal management (2024)

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

• Practice guideline for the pharmacologic treatment of patients with alcohol use disorder (2018)

American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)

• Clinical practice guideline on alcohol withdrawal management (2020)

Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM)

• Guidelines for Reasonable and Appropriate Care in the Emergency Department (GRACE-4): Alcohol use disorder and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome management in the emergency department (2024) 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Medication for the treatment of alcohol use disorder: A brief guide (2015)

Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense 

• VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for the management of substance use disorders (2021)

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP)

• Guidelines for biological treatment of substance and related disorders, part 1: Alcoholism, first revision (2017)

Opioid Use Disorder

American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP)

• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Medication management of opioid use disorder (2025)
• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Buprenorphine initiation and dosing strategies (2025)
• Opioid use disorders: Interventions for community pharmacists (2021)

American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)

• National practice guideline for the treatment of opioid use disorder: focused update (2020)
• Clinical considerations: Buprenorphine treatment of opioid use disorder for individuals using high-potency synthetic opioids (2023)

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

• Injectable opioid agonist treatment for opioid use disorder: a national clinical guideline (2019)
• Management of opioid use disorder: 2024 update to the national clinical practice guideline (2024)

College of Family Physicians of Canada

• Managing opioid use disorder in primary care (2019)

National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) / National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP)

• The Pharmacy Access to Resources and Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (PhARM-OUD) Guideline (2024)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Overdose prevention and response toolkit (2025)
• Opioid-Overdose Reduction Continuum of Care Approach (ORCCA) practice guide (2023)
• Medications for opioid use disorder (TIP 63) (2021)

Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense 

• VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for the management of substance use disorders (2021)

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP)

• Guidelines for the biological treatment of substance use and related disorders, part 2: Opioid dependence (2011)

World Health Organization (WHO)

• Community management of opioid overdose (2014)

Sedative, Hypnotic, or Anxiolytic (Benzodiazepine) Use Disorder 

American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP) 

• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal management (2024)
• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Benzodiazepine taper (2023)

American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)

• The joint clinical practice guideline on benzodiazepine tapering: Considerations when benzodiazepine risks outweigh benefits (2025)

Stimulant Use Disorder

American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP) 

• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Methamphetamine use disorder (2024)

American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) / American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP)

• Clinical practice guideline on the management of stimulant use disorder (2024)  

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Treatment of stimulant use disorders (2020)
• Treatment for stimulant use disorders (TIP 33) (2021) 

Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense 

• VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for the management of substance use disorders (2021)

Tobacco Use Disorder 

Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care

• Recommendations on interventions for tobacco smoking cessation in adults in Canada (2025)

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

• Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence (2025)

US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)

• Interventions for tobacco smoking cessation in adults, including pregnant persons (2021) 

World Health Organization

• WHO clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults (2024)

Special Populations: Adolescents

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

• Clinical practice guideline: assessment and treatment of adolescents and young adults with substance use disorders and problematic substance use (excluding tobacco) (2025)

Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

• Medication for adolescents and young adults with opioid use disorder (2021)

Special Populations: People in the Criminal Justice System

American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)

• Guidelines for managing substance withdrawal in jails (2023)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Guidelines for implementing medications for opioid use disorder treatment in state prisons (2025)

Special Populations: Older Adults

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Treating substance use disorder in older adults (TIP 26) (2020)

Special Populations: Pregnant Individuals

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine

• Consensus statement on pain management for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder from the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (2025)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Clinical guidance for treating pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorder and their infants (2018)

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP)

• Treatment of alcohol use disorders in pregnant women (2019)

World Health Organization (WHO)

• Guidelines for the identification and management of substance use and substance use disorders in pregnancy (2014)

Other

American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP) 

• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Cannabis use disorder (2022)
• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Harm reduction strategies for people who inject drugs (2022)
• AAPP Pharmacist toolkit: Xylazine (2023)

Reviewer 1: Megan Sarashinsky, PharmD, BCPP
Reviewer 2: Roisin Sabol, PharmD
2025-2026 AAPP Resident and New Practitioner Committee