When Arizona’s new 24 hour opioid hotline, “The Arizona Opioid Assistance and Referral Line,” went live on March 28, 2018, it was the first of its kind in the nation. Since then it has received 670 calls with 400 of the coming directly from the public. The hotline was created by the Arizona Department of Health Services and Arizona’s Poison and Drug Information Centers as a part of Governor Ducey’s initiative to battle the opioid epidemic. One call center is located at the Arizona Drug and Poison Center at the University of Arizona Campus in Tucson, with another call center is located in Phoenix. Pharmacists, doctors, and nurses take calls about opioid issues ranging from individuals seeking help with opioid problems to doctors with questions about prescription limits and identifying dangerous drug combinations.

“It’s free and confidential to anyone who is seeking help for either their own treatments or physicians who are looking for help prescribing these particular meds,” said Keith Boesen, Director for the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center.

The phone number for the free and confidential hotline is 1-888-688-4222.