The National Judicial Opioid Task Force (NJOTF), a project of the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), National Center for State Courts (NCSC), with support from the State Justice Institute (SJI), has crafted a substance use disorder (SUD) dictionary based on a common language glossary produced by Ohio state courts.

The primary purpose of the guide is to enhance communication between state court judges, practitioners, treatment professionals, and the law by providing “language” used by both the legal community and medical providers, addiction specialists, and other treatment professionals.  As both sides may be unfamiliar with terminology, but are now responsible for shared work, caseloads, and in the instance of treatment courts, decision-making, the guide provides a common set of words used.

The 19-page guide, sorted alphabetically, includes many terms and references that are specific to the opioid crisis, it is broader in scope and covers the language related to substance use disorders of all types.  It is available online for ease of use.