States Experiment With New Approaches To Try To Combat The Opioid Crisis
Health and law enforcement officials in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio continue to try new approaches in order to tackle the drug epidemic.
The CT Mirror:
A ‘Glimmer Of Hope’ Seen On Opioids
Opioid overdoses killed so many people in the past year that Connecticut’s forensic examiners ran out of cooler space for the bodies. And yet professionals at the front lines of the crisis reported on a few reasons for hope: Doctors are prescribing fewer painkillers, while local law enforcement possesses more tools to reverse overdoses and lock up drug dealers who enabled them. (Peak, 10/8)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
How A Massachusetts Jail Works To Give Opioid-Addicted Inmates A Better Shot At Recovering
The first time county jail in Middlesex, Massachusetts tried providing opioid-addicted inmates with medication to help stave off relapse it was in Sheriff Peter Koutoujian's words an "abject failure." (Dissell, 10/9)
The Baltimore Sun:
Anne Arundel Opens The Doors Of Fire, Police Stations To Heroin Addicts Seeking Help
When Anne Arundel County announced a program to open police and fire stations to people seeking treatment for drug addiction, expectations were low that many people would actually come. ...To date, more than 200 people have come to fire and police stations in the county seeking heroin treatment. About 60 percent have entered 28-day inpatient treatment programs in then county. Five percent went to outpatient treatment and 9 percent went to mental health treatment. Even those who have come from outside Anne Arundel have found help: Crisis counselors placed about half of out-of-county cases into treatment facilities as well. (Wood, 10/9)
Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Richmond Region's Leaders Pledge United Front In War On Opioids, Plan Summit For Oct. 26
Top elected and appointed leaders from Richmond and its surrounding counties banded together Friday to pledge regional cooperation in the fight against a killer that has taken more than 80 area lives so far in 2017. (Burnell Evans, 10/6)
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Prosecutor: Cincinnati Doctor Found Guilty Of "Fueling Opioid Epidemic" In Kentucky
A federal jury has found a Cincinnati area doctor guilty of prescribing oxycodone in Kentucky for illegitimate purposes. Court records show he prescribed a half-million doses in under one year. (Brookbank, 10/6)
Columbus Dispatch:
Cash-Only Suboxone Clinics Fuel Fears Of New 'Pill Mills'
As Ohio struggles to contain the fallout from a still-raging epidemic of drug addiction, some experts worry that too many of the state’s opioid-treatment clinics follow a business practice like that of the “pill mills” that fueled the crisis: They deal in cash. (Schladen and Price, 10/8)
