California is adding fentanyl education to the lesson plan. Under a state law, public school districts, along with charter and private schools that offer health classes, must teach students about the dangers of fentanyl. Educators plan to begin the curriculum in the 2026-2027 school year. 

Students in California have witnessed family members and loved ones fall victim to opioids. While The Golden State certainly boasts impressive range of inpatient programs and local Narcotics Anonymous chapters to combat opioids on the community level, the crisis continues. Now, education courses are the clearest signs yet that schools are treating the opioid crisis as a public health issue that education can help address.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s among the deadliest street drugs. Authorities have increasingly found fentanyl mixed in counterfeit pills and other drugs. For families who’ve lost someone, and for people in recovery from opioid addiction, classroom education represents a shift toward prevention.

A New Tool Against the Opioid Crisis

The measure, Assembly Bill 2429, originated in 2024 by Assemblymember David Alvarez of San Diego with an implementation date for Fall 2026. It directs schools to teach students several concrete, potentially life-saving skills, including:

• The risks of fentanyl and its lethal and addictive properties
• How to obtain and use fentanyl test strips
• How to recognize an overdose and use the overdose-reversal medication naloxone, often sold under the brand name Narcan
• How to tell whether other drugs may be laced with fentanyl

Currently, the bill has no waiver for students to opt out, though officials have noted that could change.

Education Matters for Families

The push is personal for many parents. Karrie Gonzales has said her son Erik developed an opioid use disorder after a high school knee injury led to him being overprescribed opioids during his sophomore year. He died in June 2020 at age 21 after taking a fentanyl-laced pill. 

Indeed, Ms. Gonzales has pointed out that counterfeit pills are often sold through social media apps. Digital technology has put pills within reach of young people who may not understand what they are taking.

Harm Reduction and Treatment

Education is one piece of a larger response that includes harm reduction and treatment. As cities make progress against opioids, officials and community members hope that more aggressive measures will save more lives.

Naloxone can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose if given in time, and fentanyl test strips let a person check whether a substance contains fentanyl. Widening access to both is a core harm reduction strategy, including on BART transit and even prisons, and teaching young people how to use them can save lives.

For folks with an opioid use disorder, medication for opioid use disorder using buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone also works. This evidence-based treatment is often paired with counseling and peer support. 

Peer support groups, including Narcotics Anonymous, help many people of all ages in recovery, and they can work alongside medication rather than in place of it.

Starting with NA

If you or someone you love is affected by opioid use, you can search for NA meetings via our directory. We have verified NA chapters listed for all 50 states. 

Or, feel free to call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to speak to an expert about medication for opioid use disorder and where you can pick up naloxone at local community programs.

In north Minneapolis, an approach to opioid addiction is showing results: neighbors, clinics, community coalitions, and a fire station, many of them carrying naloxone and overdose reversal medications, have helped bring down opioid-related ER visits in recent years. For many residents in Minnesota, the effort sparked reasons for both hope and concern.

To be sure, The North Star State already features a wide range of programs to assist locals. Inpatient facilities can accommodate dozens of patients while local Narcotics Anonymous programs assist at the grassroots level. However, many vulnerable communities still need an extra boost, and that’s where neighbors step in.

A Community Response That Works

The response network isn’t one program, but consists of many hands. Health care providers, community groups, and residents equipped with naloxone have built an informal safety net across the neighborhood. Others have participated in the recent Drug Take Back Day to safely dispose of unwanted meds. NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center produced a 38-page “Northside Survival Guide” to put overdose-response information directly into neighbors’ hands.

Responding to the Opioid Crisis in Maine

The local progress mirrors a broader turn. Opioid-involved deaths in Minneapolis fell about 26% from 2023 to 2024, and Minnesota’s opioid deaths dropped roughly 32% over the same period. 

The gains are real, but they’re uneven: fatal overdose rates for Black and Native American residents in Minneapolis remain far higher than for white residents, a disparity the community response is still working to close. That’s partly why officials expressed reasons for both hope and concern, and organizers stress that a decline in one neighborhood doesn’t mean the crisis is over.

Fentanyl continues to drive the crisis. This dangerous synthetic opioid is far more powerful than heroin and is involved in the large majority of opioid-related deaths in Hennepin County. Since fentanyl is often mixed into other drugs, people may not know they are taking it, which is why overdose-reversal tools and drug-checking supplies matter so much.

Harm Reduction and Treatment

Naloxone (Narcan) saves lives, and it is now available for free at many Minnesota access points, no questions asked. Harm reduction meets people where they are and keeps them alive long enough to find recovery. For opioid use disorder, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) have proven very effective when paired with support. These medications and peer recovery are complementary, not competing, options.

Narcotics Anonymous is one form of peer support many people find valuable alongside medical treatment. NA meetings are free, widely available in person and online, and open to anyone who wants to stop using drugs. They offer a community of people who understand what recovery involves day to day, which can be especially steadying in the vulnerable weeks after an overdose or a discharge from detox.

Find Help for Opioid Addiction with NA

If you or someone you love is living with opioid addiction in the Twin Cities, you have options tonight. Find NA meetings across Minnesota and throughout the rest of the country, ask a provider about MOUD, and pick up free naloxone at a local access point. 

Call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) for opioid addiction treatment options to get started, or just browse our directory to find NA groups anywhere in the USA.

Louisiana’s opioid crisis is increasingly a maternal health crisis, and a statewide summit is putting that connection front and center. The Northeast Delta Human Services Authority (NEDHSA) hosted its 10th Annual Opioid Summit focused on opioid addiction among mothers, infants, and families.

Louisiana features many inpatient facilities that can assist pregnant women, and local grassroots community centers and Narcotics Anonymous chapters exist in almost every neighborhood. But the concern that many residents have remains urgent, as infants have a  high risk of being born with substance use disorders if their mothers take drugs. That’s where NEDHSA came in.

A Decade of Confronting Opioid Addiction

NEDHSA serves twelve parishes across Northeast Louisiana and marked a decade of convening the event.

The summit took place June 25, 2026, at the Bayou Pointe Event Center on the University of Louisiana Monroe campus. The theme featured “Addiction and Maternal Health: Opioid Use in Vulnerable Populations.” Over 200 healthcare leaders, behavioral health experts and professionals, local and state policymakers, and community advocates attended. 

Maternal Opioid Use is in the Spotlight

NEDHSA noted that since 2018, accidental opioid overdose through fentanyl and other drugs has remained the leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths in Louisiana. Behind those numbers are mothers and infants whose outcomes can change with early intervention and coordinated care. 

“For far too long, addiction has eroded the health, stability, and promise of our communities,” noted Dr. Monteic A. Sizer, NEDHSA’s executive director. Sizer framed the summit as a push for solutions grounded in science and compassion. Presentations covered emerging trends in addiction treatment, stigma reduction, and recovery support.

New Treatment for Mothers & Families

NEDHSA recently expanded its care through the R.I.S.E. Treatment Center. The acronym stands for Reaching Independence through Support and Education and specializes in assisting pregnant women and mothers with substance miseuse. The program blends an interdisciplinary mix of behavioral counseling, primary care for moms and their kids, peer support and wraparound services. R.I.S.E. can help women recover while keeping families together.

Beyond clinical care, peer support is a backbone of long-term opioid recovery. Narcotics Anonymous offers free, community-based meetings where people recovering from narcotic addiction find accountability and support from others who understand. 

For families touched by the opioid crisis, pairing treatment and peer recovery with access to naloxone, the overdose-reversal medication, gives communities more ways to keep people alive while they pursue recovery.

Find Opioid Treatment and NA Meetings

If you or someone you love faces an opioid addiction, help is within reach. Search for NA meetings and connect with local opioid treatment programs right in your community. 

Don’t wait. Call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) for opioid addiction treatment and recovery resources, and our searchable directory lists NA chapters all across the nation.

The opioid crisis is usually fought at the bedside and in the community, but it’s also fought along the trade routes that drugs travel. A partnership between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and authorities in Guam intercepts fraudulent, misbranded and adulterated products, including opioids, as they move through the Pacific toward the U.S. mainland. Once they reach the American shore, these products can deepen opioid side effects, addiction and overdose risk.

For anyone affected by the opioid crisis, the effort reminds us that disrupting the drug supply comprises one part of a larger response that also includes treatment, peer recovery and overdose prevention.

A Shared Effort Along a Pacific Trade Route

A lot of media attention on the illegal drug trade focuses on South America. However, Guam sits along Pacific shipping lanes that connect Asia to the continental United States, which makes it a transit point for goods rather than a source of them. Much of the illicit and counterfeit drug supply that concerns investigators originates overseas and routes through multiple ports on its way to the mainland.

Working together under a partnership with Guam’s public health department and its Customs and Quarantine Agency, the FDA and local authorities have moved to target and close loopholes for violative products entering the American mainland and elsewhere, according to FDA accounts. 

FDA officials have said the collaboration helps them trace manufacturing and supply-chain information for potentially harmful products from Asia, such as kratom, that pass through the region. Shipments screened and stopped along the way are shipments that never reach a mainland street or mailbox.

The Partnership Disrupts the Supply Chain

The practical work has been substantial. FDA descriptions of the initiative report hundreds of inspections across maritime, air passenger, and air cargo channels, along with joint operations that led to seizures of counterfeit drugs and products flagged on import alerts. New (and still developing) screening tools like AI and a screening lab in the region give inspectors more ability to identify high-risk shipments, and FDA training has helped build local capacity to do the same.

Every counterfeit or adulterated batch intercepted in transit can’t enter the mainland supply. That matters because today’s illicit drug supply is increasingly contaminated, and people often have no idea what they are actually taking.

Treating Opioids and Fentanyl

Opioids include prescription medications as well as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Fentanyl is a dangerous synthetic opioid that’s now frequently found in counterfeit pills and mixed into other drugs. Because a tiny amount can be deadly, contaminated and counterfeit products are a major driver of overdose deaths.

This is why supply-chain enforcement and personal harm reduction work hand in hand. Stopping tainted products upstream reduces risk broadly; naloxone and drug-checking reduce risk for the individual.

Fortunately, many harm reduction programs can mitigate opioid overdose risks and addiction. Naloxone, often sold under brand names such as Narcan, can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose and is available without a prescription in many places. Fentanyl test strips can help detect contamination in drugs before use. These tools save lives while a person is still using or at risk.

For those ready to address opioid use, evidence-based options include medication for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone, along with counseling and peer support. Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings offer free, ongoing peer support for people recovering from drug addiction. 

Help for Opioid Addiction Through NA

Whether you’re seeking support tonight or planning a longer path, next steps are available right now. 

One easy and free step consists of simply enrolling in a neighborhood Narcotics Anonymous chapter. Peer support in NA meetings offer fellowship and nonjudgmental support that often lasts a lifetime. In-person and virtual options are often readily available.

Dial 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to explore opioid addiction treatment options and recovery resources or look through our directory for NA groups anywhere in the country.

Commonly prescribed opioid painkiller use may be linked to several cancers, including bladder cancer, according to a large new study. Mahdi Sheikh of the International Agency for Research on Cancer led a research team that found a potential new dimension to long-standing concerns about opioid use. 

Using data from the UK Biobank, Sheikh’s researchers learned that people taking strong opioids such as morphine had a 90% higher cancer risk than people not taking them, while weaker opioids like codeine were tied to a 30% increase.

Cancers Linked to Opioids

The research connected opioid use to five cancer types: bladder, lung, pancreatic, esophageal, and head and neck. These cancers have a long association with opium, the poppy-derived drug that has several street names. The World Health Organization classified opium as carcinogenic in 2020.

The link had specific components. The study didn’t associate opioids with cancers such as breast or prostate, and other painkillers like acetaminophen showed no effect on cancer risk at all. That pattern mirrored the cancers tied to opium and partly made the findings notable to Sheikh’s team.

Findings & Implications

The results show an association, not proof of cause. People who take opioids often have other health conditions, so researchers can’t yet say the medications alone are responsible for the added risk.

Sheikh stressed that the findings shouldn’t scare people away from opioids when they genuinely need these drugs. These medications remain essential because they work to reduce severe pain and appear on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. Many folks also use opioids in substitution therapy to cope with opioid use disorders. His takeaway emphasized that these medications shouldn’t be used without clinical necessity. 

An independent expert who reviewed the work, Faraz Bishehsari of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, called the study well-executed. He did note the complexity of the opioid-cancer relationship, which varies by cancer type, exposure and biology.

Opioids and Addiction Treatment

Opioids include prescription medications as well as dangerous drugs like fentanyl. They relieve pain by binding to opioid receptors in the brain, and that same action can produce dependence and, over time, opioid addiction.

Warning signs of opioid abuse include taking more than prescribed, using the drug to cope with stress rather than pain, failed attempts to cut back, and continued use despite harm to health, work, or relationships. Authorities have warned that the illicit synthetic drug supply is increasingly contaminated with fentanyl, and the risk of fatal overdose has climbed sharply.

• Naloxone, branded as Narcan, can reverse an opioid overdose within minutes. The public can increasingly buy Narcan without a prescription at pharmacies and through community distribution programs. Fentanyl test strips also help people check a drug supply for contamination.

• For treating opioid use disorder, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone reduces cravings and withdrawals. Clinicians typically pair MAT with counseling and peer support. 

• Narcotics Anonymous offers free, widely available peer recovery meetings for people working to stop drug use, and many people use NA alongside medication and professional treatment rather than as a replacement for them.

Signing Up for NA

If prescription opioids or other drugs have become hard to control, you have options. If you’re on the fence about NA meetings, including in-person, virtual, and Spanish-language formats. You can also ask about MAT and detox programs in any area.

Find NA meetings in your area, learn how naloxone works, or call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to speak with an expert. Or browse our directory to find NA chapters anywhere in the country.

A new brain-imaging study adds to what researchers understand about how opioid addiction can affect the body. This time, findings point to the brain’s memory center. People with opioid use disorder had measurably smaller hippocampal volumes than people without it, and the difference was concentrated in one specific part of the structure.

The study was headed by Paul S. Regier of the University of Pennsylvania, along with co-author Nora D. Volkow of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The findings are early, but help explain a problem many people in recovery describe firsthand: trouble with memory and thinking.

The Status of the Opioid Crisis in the USA

The context for this work is a crisis that, while easing, remains severe. U.S. overdose deaths peaked in late 2023 at roughly 111,000 a year, with opioids contributing to more than two-thirds of those deaths. Deaths have since fallen to just under 80,000 in 2025, but overdose remains a leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 44, according to figures from the CDC and NIDA.

Beyond overdose, opioid use disorder is linked to worse physical health, higher risk of infectious and chronic disease, mental health conditions, and cognitive challenges. This study zeroes in on that last piece.

The Study’s Results

Researchers re-analyzed brain MRI scans from seven independent datasets, combining 94 participants who take opioids like cannabinoids and 40 without. Compared with the control group, people with opioid use disorder had significantly smaller hippocampal volumes on both the left and right sides of the brain.

The hippocampus is the brain region most associated with forming and recalling episodic memory, the memory of events and experiences. When the team looked closer, the difference was strongest in the back portion, the posterior right hippocampus. The front area didn’t show a significant difference after statistical correction.

In a smaller subset of participants who took standardized memory tests, larger hippocampal volume was linked to better memory accuracy in the control group. The researchers describe the brain differences as real but varied from one person to the next.

Understanding the Medication Findings

Nearly two-thirds of the opioid use disorder participants were on medications for opioid use disorders, with 31 taking methadone and 24 on buprenorphine; the remaining 35 weren’t on medication. In an exploratory part of the analysis, the methadone-treated group showed smaller posterior hippocampal volumes than both the control group and the buprenorphine-treated group.

This finding needs careful reading. It was exploratory, the subgroups were small, and the study can’t show that any medication caused the difference. The methadone group also enrolled during the fentanyl era of the crisis, while the no-medication group came from an earlier period, so exposure histories differed. The authors call for more research rather than any change in care.

That caution matters because medication assisted treatment (MAT) remains the most effective, evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder. Decades of research show MAT reduces overdose deaths, cravings, and return to use. Some research even suggests that staying consistently on buprenorphine is associated with improvements in learning and memory over time. 

Nothing in this study changes the strong case for medication treatment; it raises questions for scientists to investigate, not a reason to stop or avoid medications.

News for Those in Recovery

For people in recovery, the practical takeaway is reassuring rather than alarming. Memory and concentration problems in early recovery are common and have a biological basis. Recognizing that can ease some of the self-blame people feel when their thinking feels foggy. The brain also has real capacity to heal over time in recovery.

If cognitive challenges make meetings, work, or treatment harder, that’s worth raising with a clinician, not a reason to give up.

Treatment Options Remain

Whatever path someone chooses, staying alive and connected comes first. Naloxone (Narcan) reverses an opioid overdose and is available without a prescription in most states; carrying it can save a life. Fentanyl test strips can help people check for the synthetic opioid driving most overdose deaths.

Medication for opioid use disorder, counseling, and peer support all have a place, and they work well together. 

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is one widely used peer-support option, a free, 12-step program where people support one another in recovery from drug addiction. NA and medication treatment don’t conflict; many people use both.

Find Help Now

If you or someone you love is living with opioid addiction, there is a next step available right now. Use our directory to find NA meetings anywhere in the country, including in-person, online, and Spanish-language options. Or, simply dial 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to connect with opioid addiction treatment options.

A major new analysis is reshaping how doctors and patients think about opioids for long-term pain, and the findings matter for anyone worried about opioid addiction. One of the most comprehensive assessments to date concluded that for many common conditions, opioids may not actually help and often provide no meaningful benefit over a placebo. However, they still carry a real risk of dependence that can begin after just a short period of use.

Researchers at the University of Sydney led the study. The team pulled together evidence from 59 systematic reviews covering more than 50 acute pain conditions in children and adults, looking at common medications such as codeine, morphine, oxycodone and tramadol.

The Study’s Findings

The analysis concluded that opioids didn’t provide large or lasting pain relief compared with placebo for the vast majority of acute and chronic pain conditions. In fact, relief typically lasted only a few hours. For acute musculoskeletal pain, a common reason opioids are prescribed, oral opioids performed only slightly better than placebo in the 6-48 hours after starting treatment.

For several other conditions, opioids offered no advantage over placebo at all, including some limb surgeries, kidney stone pain, and pain after tonsil removal. They did provide modest short-term relief for certain conditions such as stomach pain, dental surgery pain and traumatic limb injuries.

“By showing that the benefits are generally small, short-lived, absent for many common conditions, and sometimes harmful, our research challenges the widely held belief that opioids are the most effective go-to option for acute pain,” reported author Christina Abdel Shaheed.

Undercutting the Opioid Crisis’s Roots

The findings land in the middle of an ongoing opioid crisis largely driven by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. If opioids often don’t deliver the pain relief patients and prescribers expect, then cutting unnecessary prescriptions and opting for non-opioid medications becomes an even clearer way to reduce the number of people who develop opioid use disorder in the first place.

That matters because the risks of regular use are serious. They include tolerance, dependence, overdose and hospitalization, and death. The analysis also found that opioids increased the risk of side effects like nausea and vomiting for several conditions.

Dependence Can Develop Quickly

One crucial takeaway is how fast dependence takes hold. “Persistent use of opioid medicines can develop quickly following first-time use,” relayed co-author Dr. Stephanie Mathieson. She added that abuse “may arise from regular use for acute pain.”

Mathieson urged that patients be informed about the potential harms of opioids and that doctors prescribe them judiciously. This means the lowest effective dose for the shortest time. Opioids have their place, but the decision to prescribe deserves real caution, especially when the expected benefit may be limited.

Treatment Options

For those who do take opioids and remain at risk of an addiction, remember that you can treat opioid use disorder. 

• For instance, naloxone (Narcan) can reverse an opioid overdose if given in time and is increasingly available without a prescription.

• Medication-assisted treatment is strongly supported by evidence and can be combined with counseling and peer support. 

• Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is among the easiest steps anyone can take. NA offers free, community-based meetings where people in recovery support one another, and many people use NA alongside medication and professional treatment rather than choosing one over the other.

NA in Every Community

Getting started is simple. You can find NA meetings in almost any community. Options include in-person, online, and those in different languages or cultural foci. 

Simply call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to chat with an expert and connect with opioid treatment programs in your area. Or, browse our directory for community NA chapters anywhere in the USA.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration collected more than 19,000 pounds of unused and expired medication across the Midwest during its spring Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The event marks an annual cleanout that helps keep leftover prescription opioids and other drugs out of the wrong hands. 

For families worried about opioid addiction in their own home, the event is a reminder of a simple risk-reduction step. Painkillers left in a medicine cabinet are a common starting point for misuse.

All About Take Back Day

On April 25, the DEA and 4,300+ law enforcement agencies nationwide collected 642,410 pounds of unneeded medication at the 30th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. More than 19,000 pounds came from 159 collection sites throughout the DEA’s Omaha Field Division that covered Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Special Agent Dustin Gillespie is in charge of the DEA Omaha Field Division. He credited local partners who help coordinate drop-off sites for the program’s reach. Gillespie noted how local support allows community members to safely clear unwanted medication from their homes and keep these substances out of their neighborhoods.

Since the program began in 2010, it has collected 21,034,225 pounds of medication nationwide, the equivalent of more than 10,500 tons. Residents of the five Omaha Field Division states have contributed 725,265 of those pounds.

Leftover Prescription Opioids Matter

Prescriptions such as oxycodone and hydrocodone remain central to the overdose crisis. Many people who develop opioid addiction first encounter these drugs through a legitimate prescription. But pills left over after an injury or surgery can be misused, taken by a family member, or diverted to someone else. 

Clearing them out lowers the risk of accidental poisoning, particularly for children. Disposing of these narcotics also removes a future stash that can fuel misuse. 

The DEA says the take-back program is built to prevent prescription drug misuse and reduce accidental overdoses and poisonings.

Year-Round Drug Disposal Options

People who missed the April event don’t have to wait for the next one. The DEA points to more than 16,500 pharmacies, hospitals, businesses and police departments that accept unused medication year-round, along with permanent drop boxes listed on its Every Day is Take Back Day resource. 

Gillespie encouraged residents to locate a year-round site and dispose of medication regularly rather than letting it be a one-and-done event in the household. Other practical tips to avoid exposure and addiction include coordinating with your doctor and seeking alternatives to opioids in the first place.

Harm Reduction Tactics

Disposing of unused pills is one piece of a larger response to the opioid crisis. In homes where opioid use already takes place, naloxone (sold as Narcan) can reverse an opioid overdose and can be bought at most pharmacies without a prescription. Fentanyl test strips can help detect the synthetic opioid that now drives most overdose deaths. 

For ongoing opioid addiction, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) remains among the most strongly evidence-based options. Therapists often combine MAT with counseling and peer support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous.

Help & NA meetings

Narcotics Anonymous offers free, peer-led support for people recovering from drug addiction, with meetings available in person and online across all five Midwest states and nationwide. If you or someone you love wants to stop an addiction to prescription opioids or other drugs, treatment options range from outpatient counseling to medical detox and inpatient care. 

Call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to chat with a specialist. Feel free to also look through our directory of verified listings for NA chapters anywhere in the USA.

The fentanyl crisis has left a trail of grieving families across Louisiana, and some of them now turn that grief into prevention. To be clear, the Bayou State already offers many programs to combat substance abuse, from neighborhood Narcotics Anonymous chapters to modern inpatient medical programs. Despite the many successes, the toll remains large.

Now, individuals and families fight back. Mo’s Movement, founded by a mother who lost her daughter to a fentanyl overdose, aims to help other families tell their stories, push for awareness and point people toward opioid addiction help before another life is lost.

A Mother’s Loss Behind the Movement

Angela Shockley started Mo’s Movement in 2024 after her daughter Morgan, known as “Mo,” died of a fentanyl overdose in March 2023 at age 31. Over nine years, Morgan went through 17 inpatient treatment programs before her death. Shockley founded the group as a drug prevention and awareness program for families who’ve lived through the same loss. She works alongside Janet Daigle, whose daughter Gabrielle died of a fentanyl overdose in April 2024 at age 28.

Mo’s Movement comes at a time when the number of opioid deaths are waning, but the crisis is still far from over. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid far stronger than heroin. Officials have found fentanyl mixed into many street drugs, often without the user’s knowledge. 

Since such a small amount of fentanyl can kill, overdoses often happen fast. Naloxone, sold as Narcan in a 4 mg dose and Kloxxado in an 8 mg dose, can reverse an opioid overdose if given quickly. Users can find naloxone for free in many communities. Nevertheless, overdoses still happen. Each time, a family grieves.

The Empty Chair Project

One of the group’s most visible efforts is the Empty Chair Project. Here, volunteers set out one chair for each person who died of an overdose in a given parish or county over the past year. The chairs are decorated in purple, the color of drug awareness. 

In Tangipahoa Parish, 38 overdose deaths from the past year plus four confirmed in early 2026 added up to 42 chairs placed on the lawn of a chapel at the Rosaryville Retreat Center. At the site, filmmaker Glen Muse of Texas Pictures has been documenting parents’ stories to generate further awareness.

Signs of Progress in Hard-Hit Parishes

Both mothers describe how shame keeps people with a substance use disorder from getting help. Shockley pointed out that guilt and embarrassment remain the fastest ways to push someone back into active use. She also stressed that addiction is a medical condition, not a failure of willpower. Daigle recalled how some medical providers treated her daughter differently once they learned she used drugs, a reaction that can deepen isolation.

Some Louisiana communities now see fewer deaths. Washington Parish, once ranked among the highest in the country for overdoses per capita, recorded a drop to 41 deaths in 2024 and seven in 2025. In Tangipahoa Parish, Sheriff Gerald Sticker pointed to a 45% decrease in fentanyl-related deaths. Sticker also singled out programs like Operation Angel, which connects people with addiction to treatment instead of jail. Incarceration alone doesn’t solve the problem.

Help for Opioid Addiction in the USA

Recovery from opioid addiction takes many forms, including medication for opioid use disorder, counseling, and peer support such as Narcotics Anonymous. For families and individuals looking for a next step, NA meetings offer free, ongoing peer support, and many areas now host both in-person and virtual options.

Getting started is simple. Just call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) or browse our directory for NA locations anywhere in the country alongside other treatment programs.

Twenty Kentucky counties are banding together to tackle the opioid crisis head-on, and they have nearly $1 billion in settlement money to work with.

The Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) has launched its Opioid Solutions Network, a first-of-its-kind cohort designed to help local governments turn settlement funds into real, on-the-ground recovery programs that reach people struggling with opioid addiction before it’s too late.

The Opioid Crisis by the Numbers in Kentucky

Kentucky has long ranked among the hardest-hit states in the national opioid epidemic. The commonwealth is set to receive approximately $1 billion in opioid settlement funds as part of the National Settlement Agreement

It was a nearly $50 billion nationwide payout from pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors held accountable for their role in fueling opioid abuse across the country.

Half of those settlement dollars flow to the state government, while the remaining half goes directly to local counties for allocation.

The problem, according to KACo Opioid Settlement Advisor Lauren Carr, is that not every county has the staff, expertise, or infrastructure to spend that money effectively.

“All 120 counties receive opioid settlement funds, but a lot of counties are different,” Carr said. “Some have the capacity to attack this, and some don’t, so we’re trying to break down the information and make it easily digestible in ways they can understand so they can put it into action in their community.”

That’s exactly what the 20-county cohort, which includes both Graves County and Trigg County in western Kentucky, is designed to fix.

What’s Driving the Network’s Formation

The opioid crisis does not affect every community the same way. Rural counties in particular often lack the public health infrastructure to identify the most effective interventions for narcotic addiction, navigate grant compliance requirements, or build the multi-agency partnerships that recovery experts say are essential.

KACo’s cohort offers member counties a structured framework for doing all of that. Carr said the network will push participating counties toward earning Kentucky’s “Recovery Ready Community” certification.

It’s a state designation requiring counties to demonstrate they can provide prevention, treatment, and sustained support services for people dealing with opioid addiction or other substance use disorders.

Only 39 of Kentucky’s 120 counties currently hold that certification, including McCracken County, which earned it in 2024.

Peer Recovery and Community-Based Treatment

On the ground, organizations like the Turning Point Recovery Community Center in McCracken County are already demonstrating what settlement funding can accomplish.

Site Administrator Nathan Brockett said collaboration with neighboring counties played a major role in Turning Point’s ability to earn Recovery Ready certification, and that the settlement dollars have opened doors that weren’t available before.

“We utilize that funding to create our mobile access to recovery program,” Brockett said. “We’re able to literally meet people where they’re at.” Turning Point used opioid abatement funding to purchase a van for mobile outreach, allowing recovery specialists to reach individuals with opioid addiction who might never walk through a clinic door.

Brockett added that the flexible nature of opioid abatement funds has allowed Turning Point to expand programming far beyond a single intervention. “The opioid abatement funding doesn’t make us so constrained,” he said.

“They allow us to be able to do so many different things.” The organization now has more ways to connect people struggling with narcotic addiction to treatment, peer support, and ongoing recovery services.

Understanding Opioid Addiction and Overdose Risk

Opioids are a class of drugs that include prescription pain medications, heroin, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl. They work by binding to receptors in the brain and body, producing pain relief and, at higher doses, respiratory depression that can lead to fatal overdose.

Fentanyl, now present in much of the illicit drug supply, is up to 100 times more potent than morphine, making accidental overdose a constant risk even for people who believe they are taking a different substance.

Naloxone (brand name Narcan) is a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose and is available without a prescription at most pharmacies in Kentucky. Carrying naloxone is one of the most effective harm reduction steps anyone can take.

Finding Help for Opioid Addiction in Kentucky

For anyone in Kentucky dealing with opioid addiction or narcotic addiction, recovery resources are available:

NA Meetings in Kentucky — Narcotics Anonymous holds meetings across the state, including in Paducah, Mayfield, and surrounding western Kentucky communities. Find a meeting near you at na.org or search “NA meetings near me.”

Opioid Treatment Programs Near You — Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with buprenorphine or methadone is available through licensed providers across Kentucky. Contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7) for opioid addiction treatment options near you.

Recovery Ready Communities — Kentucky’s certified Recovery Ready counties maintain directories of local prevention, treatment, and peer support services. Ask your county health department or visit the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission website for resources.

If you or a loved one needs support with recovery, you can search Narcotics.’com’s directory to find NA meetings in your area. Call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to speak with a treatment advisor today.