75 articles found
Colorado classrooms are embracing harm reduction strategies and naloxone training, moving away from decades of abstinence-only messaging as fentanyl crisis reshapes youth drug education.
Nevada expects $57.9 million over 15 years from the $7.4 billion Purdue Pharma and Sackler family settlement, bringing the state's total opioid settlement recovery to over $1.2 billion.
South Carolina to receive $72.8 million over 15 years as $7.4 billion Purdue Pharma and Sackler family settlement takes effect, bringing total state recovery to over $750 million.
Austin-area officials credit free naloxone distribution through vending machines and community partnerships for dramatic reduction in fentanyl fatalities.
Kentucky reports fourth straight year of declining overdose deaths with 22.9% reduction in 2025, marking 50.8% decrease from 2021 peak as comprehensive state strategy shows sustained results.
While overdose deaths fell 18% nationally, Colorado saw a 10% increase in fentanyl-related fatalities, with Denver reporting a 25% spike. DEA data reveals the state's unique challenges.
Nebraska will require Medicaid expansion enrollees to work 80 hours monthly, raising concerns about addiction treatment access for vulnerable populations.
Georgia's Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust opens applications for Year 3 funding, allocating $20 million to address addiction and overdose across the state.
Local governments in South Dakota struggle to deploy opioid settlement dollars while the state moves faster with grants and programs, highlighting challenges rural areas face in addressing the addiction crisis.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announces $9 million in opioid settlement grants for community prevention and treatment programs, with funds flowing through state legislature-approved distribution framework.
Rural Oklahoma faces barriers accessing opioid settlement grants due to lack of grant-writing expertise and community partnerships, while metro areas and schools secure most funding.
Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission distributes record $34 million to 100+ organizations, bringing total community investment past $100 million since 2021.
Utah joins $773.7 million national settlement with Albertsons Companies, directing funds to opioid abatement programs for treatment, recovery services, and prevention efforts.
State regulations force daily clinic visits and limit take-home doses, making medication-assisted treatment more burdensome than federal standards require.
State Senator Pat McMath proposes using unspent opioid settlement dollars to fund clinical research into psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans, first responders, and people with opioid dependence.
Albertsons and Safeway parent company agrees to $773 million national settlement, with Oregon receiving up to $38.2 million over nine years to expand addiction and recovery services.
UC San Diego and SDSU study of 2.8 million students finds local flavor bans reduce e-cigarette use by 20% with no increase in cigarette smoking, challenging industry arguments.
South Dakota distributes second round of transformative grants to 10 organizations, funding mobile street medicine, recovery coaching for incarcerated individuals, and primary care addiction training.
Twenty Kentucky counties join forces through the KACo Opioid Solutions Network to share best practices and strategically deploy nearly $1 billion in settlement funds
More than 200 residents protest proposed 122-bed addiction treatment facility funded by California's Proposition 1, highlighting tensions between statewide mental health expansion and neighborhood concerns
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services opens applications for up to $10 million in opioid settlement funds to expand behavioral health services and strengthen recovery systems across the state
New JAMA study shows states expanding Medicaid after 2018 saw sharp rises in buprenorphine prescriptions, but federal funding cuts could reverse gains.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services announces comprehensive $31 million opioid response strategy combining treatment access expansion, harm reduction, and law enforcement education.
North Carolina awards federal block grants to 12 community organizations for rural treatment, crisis response, and justice-involved recovery programs targeting 1.4 million residents with substance use disorders.
Rhode Island becomes first state to reverse kratom ban while Kansas, Connecticut move toward Schedule I classification, creating fragmented regulatory landscape for substance used by millions for pain and opioid withdrawal.
NCDHHS awards federal block grant funding to twelve community organizations targeting rural areas, youth prevention, and criminal justice-involved populations as state battles 1.4 million struggling with substance use.
Longleaf Lodge launches with 50 residential and 10 detox beds, addressing Alabama's crisis where 19% need substance use treatment but only 5% receive it. Integrated care model tackles co-occurring conditions as wait times stretch weeks to months.
Second round of 'transformative grants' prioritizes youth treatment expansion, school prevention programs, and mobile crisis response as state officials emphasize building complete care continuum
Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Missouri are coordinating clinical trials of ibogaine—a Schedule I psychedelic—for opioid addiction and PTSD despite federal restrictions.
SB 365 would mandate ERs provide evidence-based addiction treatment, potentially saving $20,000 per patient annually while reducing overdose deaths — but faces hospital pushback over costs.
Two competing bills represent fundamentally different approaches to kratom policy—one seeks complete prohibition while the other acknowledges harm reduction uses for addiction recovery and pain management.
Despite receiving $800 million since 2023, more than 40% of Michigan counties have yet to distribute opioid crisis mitigation funds while overdose deaths continue claiming nearly 2,000 lives annually.
Governor Rhoden announces funding for 10 organizations as Attorney General Jackley pushes for direct allocation to Sioux Falls and Rapid City treatment centers.
Proposed legislation SB 365 mandates that Connecticut emergency departments offer buprenorphine to patients with opioid use disorder, despite hospital opposition citing costs.
Georgia county awards settlement dollars to programs ranging from peer support to residential treatment as officials confront third-highest opioid death toll in the state.
State lawmakers advance plan to distribute nearly $60 million in opioid settlement money, sidestepping the independent council created just last year to oversee spending.
WVU leads 18-month statewide assessment to guide how three-quarters of West Virginia's opioid settlement funds will be spent, creating public dashboard to identify gaps and maximize impact.
Kentucky Senate Bill 77 nears final passage, creating framework to research ibogaine for opioid addiction and PTSD despite Schedule I status. Four states already funding trials.
State officials unveil plan to restructure troubled mental health agency, potentially dissolving it and shifting control to Department of Health as providers struggle with service cuts.
Governor Josh Stein announces expansion of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion programs to seven counties, offering treatment alternatives to incarceration for low-level offenses involving substance use.
New Wisconsin Policy Forum report reveals dramatic expansion in MOUD access across state correctional facilities from 2021 to 2025, coinciding with substantial decline in overdose deaths.
AB 602 requires California public universities to provide addiction treatment rather than punishment when students seek help for overdoses, effective July 2026.
SUPPORT Act allows pharmacists to prescribe addiction medication with 8 hours training. Maryland considers state legislation as federal pathway opens treatment access.
Federal $750K investment establishes Pennsylvania Addiction Action Network to coordinate data-driven opioid settlement spending across all 67 counties
West Virginia First Foundation introduces Regional Contingency Allocation Program allowing six regions to respond to immediate community needs outside traditional grant cycles, managing nearly $1 billion in settlement funds.
Columbia adds twelve public naloxone boxes as Missouri House proposes $8M cut to statewide distribution, threatening 800 agencies and 7,500 documented overdose saves since 2017.
Federal funding establishes Pennsylvania Addiction Action Network to coordinate data-driven allocation of settlement funds across all 67 counties as state confronts 4,719 annual overdose deaths.
ACLU challenges West Virginia's 2007 moratorium on methadone clinics, arguing the state's unique restriction violates disability law while forcing 54,000 residents with opioid use disorder to navigate impossible treatment logistics.
Senate Bill 2185 passed committee and would mandate MAT screening and access in all Illinois prisons, funded by opioid settlements, following a Kane County program that cut overdose deaths by 89%.
Mayor Daniel Lurie announces Proposition 1 funding for 100 new psychiatric and addiction treatment beds across three sites, even as the city faces $900 million deficit and federal funding cuts.
Parents who lost children to overdoses are urging Pennsylvania to use settlement money to create a comprehensive bereavement support system modeled on Philadelphia's Philly HEALs program.
AG Kris Kobach and DCCCA deploy free overdose reversal kits across Kansas universities and community colleges as state battles 2,000+ fentanyl deaths.
New transparency tool shows municipalities spent just 12% of available settlement funds in latest fiscal year, while state officials emphasize accountability in managing $1 billion expected through 2039.
New Oregon laws streamline licensing, strengthen workplace safety, and expand access to mental health and addiction services amid one of the nation's worst provider shortages
Lawmakers push package of reforms including 988 funding, treatment bed registry, and insurance coverage mandates as state struggles to meet crisis response needs.
Eight new mental health and drug treatment facilities will receive Proposition 1 funding, including sobering centers and residential programs across the Bay Area
Sen. John Keenan proposes expanding subway naloxone access after 2024 pilot ended prematurely, leaving empty and broken cabinets across Boston's transit system.
New state transparency dashboard reveals municipalities spent just 12% of available settlement funds in FY2025 while communities await critical addiction services and harm reduction programs.
Minnesota lawmakers approved HF 2906, creating a state-regulated psilocybin therapy pilot program with patient caps and bipartisan backing, joining Oregon and Colorado.
Maine city finally distributes nearly all available settlement money to 16 organizations, three years after receiving first payments, as Penobscot County sees rising overdose deaths.
State lawmakers unanimously approve evidence-based mandates and conflict-of-interest safeguards for $400M+ opioid settlement fund after investigative reporting exposed governance failures.
Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego failed to pay subcontractors and staff for months while COO allegedly misappropriated over $200,000 in public funds for personal expenses.
Governor Newsom awards funding to 28 regions while launching accountability system recognizing 'CARE Champions' and placing underperforming counties in intensive support program.
Mississippi Senate passes HB 314, allocating $5M from opioid settlement funds to join Texas and Arizona in FDA clinical trials of ibogaine for opioid addiction and PTSD treatment.
Weill Cornell research shows state laws eliminating insurance prior authorization for buprenorphine don't significantly improve 180-day retention rates, highlighting need for broader policy interventions.
MDHHS distributes free naloxone kits at local offices statewide, funded by $1.8 billion opioid settlement. State reports 35% decline in overdose deaths since 2023.
While Mississippi sits on over $400 million in opioid settlement funds, the state has spent almost none of it on treatment or family services — even as it leads the nation in children living with grandparents and foster care tied to parental substance use.
House Bill 487 allocates $43M from opioid settlements to prevention, treatment, and recovery programs, with unanimous bipartisan support as Alabama reports 30% reduction in overdose deaths.
Local governments in Maine allocated $3 million from opioid settlements in 2025 toward treatment, prevention, and law enforcement programs, with $19 million remaining and new reporting requirements now in place.
State legislators advance $5.7 million appropriation to sustain 988 Mental Health Lifeline after federal funding expires in September, citing success in diverting crisis calls from emergency services.
Missouri's Veterans Mental Health Innovation Act would fund FDA ibogaine clinical trials for opioid use disorder and traumatic brain injury, joining Texas and Arizona in breakthrough therapy research.
State programs like Project Nurture combine prenatal care, substance use treatment, and peer support after Oregon data showed mental health and SUD led pregnancy-related deaths.
California's CalRx program cuts naloxone costs by more than half while the state's distribution initiative crosses a staggering milestone in overdose reversals.
Senate Bill 2749 passes committee with unanimous vote, expanding Illinois' addiction treatment framework to include problem gambling and mandating new prevention and recovery services statewide.
New Jersey lawmakers unanimously approve trio of bills to regulate addiction treatment industry, addressing concerns raised in 2024 state investigation into facility operations and peer recovery programs.