Category: Opioids
Cannabis holds promise for pain management, reducing the need for opioid painkillers – UW neuropharmacology expert explains how
In states where marijuana is legalized, opioid-related ER visits drop nearly 8% and opioid prescriptions are modestly lower.
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A New Paramedic Policy May Guide Overdose Patients Into Treatment
Administering buprenorphine to overdose patients within 10 minutes after resuscitation quickly alleviates withdrawal symptoms and results in a nearly six-fold increase in patients showing up for treatment within 30 days, a recent study has found.
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INTERNATIONAL OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY: TAKING ACTION TO SAVE LIVES
This year, King County is working with community partners to expand the use of naloxone (also known as Narcan) – a powerful and very safe tool that can save the life of someone experiencing an opioid overdose – and educate the community about available treatments for opioid use disorder.
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What is fentanyl and why is it behind the deadly surge in US drug overdoses? A medical toxicologist explains
Buying drugs on the street is a game of Russian roulette. From Xanax to cocaine, drugs or counterfeit pills purchased in nonmedical settings may contain life-threatening amounts of fentanyl.
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Seizures of fentanyl-containing pills rise dramatically
The number of individual pills seized by law enforcement increased nearly 50-fold from the first quarter of 2018 to the last quarter of 2021 and the proportion of pills to total seizures more than doubled, with pills representing over a quarter of illicit fentanyl seizures by the end of 2021.
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How the pandemic helped spread fentanyl across the US and drive opioid overdose deaths to a grim new high
The soaring death toll has been fueled by a much more dangerous black market opioid supply. Illicitly synthesized fentanyl – a potent and inexpensive opioid that has driven the rise in overdoses since it emerged in 2014 – is increasingly replacing heroin. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs were responsible for almost two-thirds of the overdose deaths recorded in the 12 months period ending in April 2021.
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Drug Deaths Soar, Prompting New Crackdowns and Funding
Nationwide, there has been a 31% increase in overdose deaths during the pandemic compared with the year before, fueled largely by the presence of the potent opioid fentanyl in heroin, methamphetamines and other illicit drugs.
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Washington state overdose rates on pace to break another record, health officials say.
Health officials urge people to carry naloxone and know overdose signs
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Opioid-addiction medication underused in WA, UW study shows
Opioid users may need multiple care episodes with buprenorphine before their recovery trajectory is established.
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Opioid Deaths Spark Push to Ease Buprenorphine Rules
Doctors say requirement to take an 8-hour course and submit to Drug Enforcement Administration oversight has stymied the drug’s availability.
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Fatal overdoses spike in King County
These last two weeks mark a sharp increase—double the average number of weekly fatal overdoses throughout much of 2020.
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COVID-19 Eased Drug Treatment Rules—And That Saved Lives
“Telehealth sessions have been a lifeline for those walking the long road to recovery during a stressful, isolating time.”
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Perspective: Why opioids cannot fix chronic pain
Emotional pain and chronic pain are related, and painkillers, ultimately, make things worse
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Cannabis found not to be a substitute for opioids
A meta-analysis of the studies found cannabis use didn’t reduce illicit opioid use during treatment nor did it retain people in treatment.
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With Safe Injection Sites, ‘Somebody Has to Go First.’ It Could Be Philadelphia.
A non-profit wants to open a safe injection site in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, known for high-quality, cheap heroin and daily overdose deaths.
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