Texas Launches $10 Million Push To Tackle Fentanyl Crisis

The Texas Tribune: Texas Launches $10 Million Effort To Combat Fentanyl Crisis
To combat the growing number of fentanyl overdose deaths in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday announced a $10 million fentanyl awareness campaign and plan to distribute doses of Narcan to every county in the state. Abbott said the state’s “One Pill Kills” multimedia campaign is designed to warn Texans about the unlawful use of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. In addition, the governor said the Texas Division of Emergency Management will be delivering a total of 20,000 doses of the overdose-reversing medication, naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, to all 254 counties in Texas. (Simpson, 4/6)

AP: Alabama Lawmakers Approve Harsher Penalties For Fentanyl
Alabama lawmakers on Thursday approved harsher penalties for trafficking fentanyl — with punishments of up to life imprisonment — as lawmakers try to respond to the deadly overdose crisis. (Chandler, 4/6)

KQED: San Francisco Has Doubled Participants Of This Opioid Treatment. Here's Why 
The first time Alyssa Ibarra tried to get suboxone, a medication proven to treat opioid use disorder, she bought it from someone off the street. After an ankle injury in 2014, she started using Vicodin and Percocet recreationally and later developed an addiction to opioids after experiencing postpartum depression. “When I tried to stop, I remember just feeling really hopeless,” Ibarra said. “I didn't even think, ‘I'm having withdrawals.’ I just thought it was the postpartum.” (Johnson, 4/4)

Dallas Morning News: How Mexican Criminal Groups Use Technology, Social Media To Dominate Fentanyl Market
Two rival criminal groups that have cornered the deadly fentanyl market have done so largely with ingenuity and the latest technology, say current and former Mexican and U.S. law enforcement authorities. The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have evolved into high-tech geeks, relying on savvy business skills, encrypted communication gadgets and social media to recruit dealers to peddle their drugs across the border and into North Texas. (Corchado and Krause, 4/7)

Also —

Los Angeles Times: Coolio's Primary Cause Of Death Revealed: Fentanyl
Rapper Coolio died in September due to the effects of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, the Los Angeles medical examiner determined Thursday. The Grammy-winning “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died Sept. 28, 2022. He was 59. (Del Rosario, 4/6)

In news about alcohol use —

AP: Bottle Battle: Boston Talks Of Banning Tiny Bottles Of Booze 
Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo has proposed banning city liquor stores from selling the bottles that hold from 50 to 100 milliliters (1.7 to 3.4 fluid ounces), which he says would address both alcohol abuse and excessive litter. “The fact that this handled even one of these two issues would have been enough for me,” Arroyo said at city hall hearing on the issue on Monday. ... Other Massachusetts communities that have banned the sale of the tiny bottles have seen benefits, Arroyo said. (Pratt, 4/6)

The Mercury News: ‘Confusing’: Jennifer Lopez Launches Alcohol Brand As She, Ben Affleck Tout Sobriety
It’s hard to imagine why Jennifer Lopez thought she’d be the perfect celebrity to launch a brand of bottled cocktails, given that she’s long claimed she eschews alcohol for health and beauty purposes, and her husband, Ben Affleck, has long battled addiction to alcohol and been to rehab multiple times. Lopez’s fans and others have gone on her Instagram to let her know they aren’t thrilled about her attaching her name to a new product, Delola, which features three ready-to-drink spritzes made with vodka, tequila and amaro, People reported. The brightly colored, fruit- and rose-infused spritzes retail for $23 for a 750-milliliter bottle and will arrive in grocery stores, restaurants and bars this month. (Ross, 4/6)