CDC seeks to block ‘never use alone’ messaging used by overdose prevention groups

Beletsky said that people concerned with ending overdose fatalities have had to learn what works and what doesn't "the very hard way". He's worried that looming changes could roll the clock back "to a time when things were spiraling year after year" and "that we will go back to seeing the trends reverse again in the wrong direction".…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/23/trump-cdc-overdose-prevention-messaging

 

How Medicaid cuts may endanger US progress battling opioid addiction - CSMonitor.com

"You might wonder, if it is generally poor, white men who are dying of drug overdoses, why would this administration, which is built on the backs of lower-education white male voters, abandon something that's working?" says David Herzberg, co-author of "Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America."…

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2025/0702/budget-cuts-medicaid-overdose 

 

Nitazenes found in 5 overdose deaths in Philly – here’s what they are and why they’re so deadly

Researchers have relatively little information on how the human body reacts to nitazenes because the drugs have never gone through clinical trials. But lab tests show certain nitazenes could be hundreds to thousands of times more potent than morphine and 10 to 40 times stronger than fentanyl.

https://theconversation.com/nitazenes-found-in-5-overdose-deaths-in-philly-heres-what-they-are-and-why-theyre-so-deadly-227739

A Spike In Drug Overdose Deaths During The Pandemic (Diane Rehm, On My Mind)

Reported drug overdose deaths hit a record high over the 12-month period ending in March 2021. That is according to recently released data from the Centers fro Disease Control. Nearly 97,000 people lost their lives, a 30 percent increase from the previous year. Opioids — and synthetic opioids –accounted for the majority of those deaths.

Dr. Andrew Kolodny is the medical director of opioid policy research at Brandeis University. He is also the medical consultant for Dopesick, the new series on Hulu based on the bestselling book by journalist Beth Macy. The series is a fictionalized account of the roots of the opioid crisis.

Dr. Kolodny joined Diane to discuss this recent spike in overdose deaths, and how so many Americans became addicted to opioids in the first place.
Interview:

https://dianerehm.org/shows/2021-11-05/the-record-number-of-drug-overdose-deaths-during-the-pandemic

Trump says border wall will stop drug flow. Is that true? -- PolitiFact

President Donald Trump claims his promised border wall with Mexico will stop drugs from coming into the United States and help solve the nation's drug epidemic. More than 64,000 people died in 2016 from drug overdoses, the majority of which were linked to opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ....
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/oct/26/will-border-wall-stop-drugs-coming-united-states/

Legal Weed Is the Solution to Our Massive Painkiller Problem -- VICE

Studies show that medical marijuana laws reduce opioid prescriptions and overdose deaths. It's time to consider recreational pot, too....
https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/legal-marijuana-is-solution-to-opioid-painkiller-problem-weedweek2017

How Not to Treat Drug Addicts, Exhibit A: One Town's Ugly Effort to Punish Overdose Victims

Ohio is a state with a serious opioid problem. It's tied with neighboring Kentucky for the third-highest overdose death rate in the country, and the state Department of Health reports that fatal overdoses, mostly due to opioids, have jumped eight-fold in the past 15 years, killing more than 3,000 Ohioans in 2015.

In a bid to address the problem, the state passed a 911 Good Samaritan law last year. Such laws, which are also in place in 36 other states, provide limited immunity from prosecution for drug possession offenses for overdose victims and people who seek medical assistance to help them. The idea is to encourage people to seek help for their friends rather than hesitate, perhaps with lethal consequences, out of fear of being busted....
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/ohio-opioid-overdose-outrage-town-ugly-effort-punish-victims