BALTIMORE — When Trea Ellinger left a Baltimore drug rehab facility last summer, he assured his anxious mother that everything was fine. He had his medications and was planning to meet up with his girlfriend. By the following afternoon, he was dead — not from the violence his mom feared he might face, but because … Read more
NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Melissa Etheridge realized two career dreams with her new docuseries “Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken”: performing for incarcerated women and recording the concert for a live album. The singer-songwriter grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas — an area home to a well-known federal penitentiary and other state and military … Read more
The Democratic-controlled Vermont Legislature on Monday overturned a number of the Republican governor’s vetoes, passing measures to prevent drug overdoses, restrict a pesticide that’s toxic to bees and to require state utilities to source all renewable energy by 2035. But the Legislature failed to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of a data privacy bill that … Read more
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Drug overdose deaths in Kentucky fell nearly 10% in 2023, marking a second straight annual decline in the fight against an addiction epidemic that’s far from over, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. The number of fatal overdoses statewide dropped below 2,000, as officials credited a comprehensive response that includes treatment and prevention … Read more
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — In Sierra Leone, a cheap, synthetic drug is ravaging youth. Trash-strewn alleys are lined with boys and young men slumped in addiction. Healthcare services are severely limited. One frustrated community has set up what it calls a treatment center, run by volunteers. But harsh measures can be used. The project in … Read more
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A bill that would have consolidated six South Carolina heath care agencies and was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers of the General Assembly died on the session’s final day Thursday in a procedural move by a member angry he was mocked by his colleagues. Republican Rep. Josiah Magnuson has been against the … Read more
SEATTLE — Seattle will open a new space for people to recover and receive treatment for nearly 24 hours after they have overdosed on fentanyl or other drugs, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced Thursday. The center is slated to open near the Pioneer Square neighborhood in mid-2025 and will be run by a homelessness and substance … Read more
Settlement money to help stem the decades-long opioid addiction and overdose epidemic is rolling out to small towns and big cities across the U.S., but advocates worry that chunks of it may be used in ways that don’t make a dent in the crisis. As state and local governments navigate how to use the money, … Read more
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign legislation to criminalize the misuse of a powerful animal tranquilizer called xylazine that is showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths, his office said Wednesday. Xylazine, which is being mixed into fentanyl and other illicit opioids, … Read more
ATLANTA — Georgia’s governor on Thursday signed a bill putting new regulations on the production and sale of products containing kratom, a plant-based supplement. The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, prohibits the sale of kratom to anyone under 21 and says it must be kept behind a counter or in a display area that … Read more
