Opioid Epidemic

The CDC released data indicating a modest decrease in fatal overdoses in the United States last year.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday that operations supported by the California National Guard have resulted in the record seizure of 62,224 pounds of fentanyl in 2023, valued at about $649 million. 

The lawmakers supporting the bill say it would allow police to confiscate drugs and reduce public drug use. It would also create new diversion opportunities with the aim of steering people toward treatment instead of jail.

Sold at gas stations across the country under names like “ZaZa Red” and “Neptune’s Elixir,” tianeptine use can lead to serious health complications and even death, officials say.

Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said on Jan. 17. The agency is calling fentanyl the "deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced."

“I am a stupid songwriter y'all, but I have first hand witnessed this in a way most people have not," Jelly Roll told Congress. "Almost every person in this room has lost a friend, family member or colleague to the disease known as addiction."

In a significant development, a routine traffic stop in North Carolina unveiled a staggering amount of fentanyl, enough to potentially cause the death of 27 million people, exceeding the state's population.

The Supreme Court is wrestling with a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping have emerged from their first face-to-face meeting in a year vowing to stabilize their fraught relationship and showcasing modest agreements to combat illegal fentanyl and re-establish military communications.

A sixth county election office received a suspicious envelope filled with white powder shortly after Washington's General Election.

“The only thing more depraved than trafficking deadly fentanyl is trafficking deadly fentanyl designed to look like candy to appeal to teenagers,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

A man who was convicted in California's first fentanyl-related homicide case was sentenced to 15 years to life behind bars. This comes as Vicente David Romero was found guilty in the death of a 26-year-old mother of three.