On March 29, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan - the 4-milligram nasal spray version of naloxone, a medication that can quickly counteract an opioid overdose - for over-the-counter sale, an essential step in reducing deaths due to overdose. Read more»

A 600-page report published Thursday encourages federal, state and local lawmakers to think “beyond traditional silos” and innovate ways to stem adverse effects of addiction and increasing drug overdose deaths among Americans. Read more»

Fentanyl dealers linked to an overdose death could face the death penalty under a Arizona Republican proposal that critics say will also sweep up drug addicts and send them to death row. Read more»

La epidemia de opiáceos ha afectado a todas las razas, pero cuando se trata de buscar tratamiento, algunos grupos minoritarios están en clara desventaja, dijo un panel de expertos en un foro reciente en línea. Read more»

An Arizona bill that would establish a level 1 felony punishment for selling a narcotic drug that results in the death of the user aims to help stem the fentanyl epidemic, the third wave of the opioid epidemic that has gripped the country since the 1990s. Read more»

The Arizona House Health and Human Services Committee voted in favor of a bill that would establish a level 1 felony punishment for selling a narcotic drug that results in the death of the user - but some Democrats say the bill is unconstitutional and broad. Read more»

A proposed Arizona law that would allow drug dealers to be charged with homicide if their product killed someone was shot down by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, with one lawmaker saying it would cause more problems that it would solve. Read more»

Fentanyl dealers linked to an overdose death could face the death penalty under an Arizona Republican proposal that critics say will also sweep up drug addicts and send them to death row. Read more»

Federal government and some states are redoubling efforts to curb the epidemic of overdoses from opioid painkillers, heroin and fentanyl by making medication-assisted treatment more accessible to the estimated 9.5 million people with an opioid use disorder. Read more»

Across the country, cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome increased a startling 82% from 2010 to 2017 - while Arizona cases increased 41% from 2017 to 2021 - and a Phoenix nursery is working to end the cycles that lead to multigenerational patterns of addiction. Read more»

Last year, 109,000 people died from a drug overdose, more than double the number in 2015, and though medical professionals have long argued that buprenorphine should be available in every emergency room in the country, adoption of the practice has been sluggish. Read more»

School districts around the country - including Arizona, one of only six states that requires schools to have a naloxone policy - are trying to quickly respond to the growing toll from fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin. Read more»

Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s claim that fentanyl overdoses are the leading cause of death in Arizona is false, though the synthetic opioid has been partially responsible for an increase in the number of drug overdose deaths both nationally and locally. Read more»

In dealing with the opioid crisis, the Biden administration is quietly embracing “harm reduction” — a controversial approach that could save thousands of lives but create a political firestorm because it appears to be giving up and accepting illegal drug use as normal. Read more»

Last year, marijuana and hallucinogen use by young adults aged 19 to 30 increased significantly compared to five and 10 years ago - reaching record levels - and more than 1 in 10 were “daily” consumers, using marijuana 20 times or more in the past 30 days. Read more»