The Locator is a service of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The Locator is an on-line resource designed to assist States, medical and addiction treatment communities, potential patients, and/or their families in finding information on locating physicians and treatment programs authorized to treat opioid addiction with buprenorphine (Suboxone® and Subutex®).

The Locator lists:

• Physicians authorized to prescribe a class of medications for opioid (narcotic) addiction treatment, of which Suboxone® and Subutex® are the only ones approved at this time.


• Treatment programs authorized to dispense (but not prescribe) opioid treatment medications, including Suboxone® and Subutex®.

The treatment programs in the Locator are based on a list of treatment programs authorized under 21 U.S.C. Section 823(g)(1) to dispense (but not prescribe) opioid treatment medications. These treatment programs can admit patients and dispense methadone, Subutex®, or Suboxone®. Please note that CSAT is not a treatment referral agency and cannot make specific recommendations or endorsements regarding treatment programs on the Locator.

CSAT compiles the list of physicians in the Locator from its information on qualified physicians who have waivers to prescribe or dispense specially approved classes of narcotic medications for the treatment of narcotic addiction. Of these drugs, Subutex® and Suboxone® are the only ones approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) thus far. The list includes only physicians who have met qualifications under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) and who have authorized the use of their names in the Locator. As noted above for treatment programs, CSAT cannot make specific recommendations or endorsements regarding physicians on the Locator.

DATA 2000 allows qualified physicians to dispense or prescribe specially approved schedule III, IV, and V drugs for medication-assisted opioid addiction treatment. In addition, DATA 2000 reduces the regulatory burden on physicians who choose to practice opioid therapy by permitting qualified physicians to apply for and receive waivers of the special registration requirements defined in the Narcotic Addiction Treatment Act and the Controlled Substances Act. Since DATA 2000 was enacted in October 2000, only the partial opioid agonist medication buprenorphine (Suboxone® and Subutex®) has received FDA approval.

To read the text of DATA 2000, to view what is required of “qualifying physicians” under the act, or to find out more about buprenorphine and DATA 2000, follow this link.