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Synthetic Opioids Found in Vapes and THC Products
Lucas Trautman, director of Oxford Treatment Center’s veterans’ program, recently discussed his experiences working on the front lines of the evolving opioid epidemic. Opioid exposure has not required a bag or a needle to be potentially fatal. Comparatively harmless products like THC oils, vape cartridges and other accessible products have been found to be laced …
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Tennessee Fentanyl Crisis Puts Children at Risk
Tennessee’s fentanyl crisis continues to claim lives and experts say that, increasingly, the synthetic opioid’s newest victims are children. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin and is often unknowingly ingested, increasing overdose risks for both adults and children. Fentanyl’s Impact on Tennessee’s Most Vulnerable Fentanyl continues to drive the …
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Georgia Expands Narcan Access in Public Schools
A new statewide initiative is providing Georgia public schools with naloxone (Narcan), the opioid overdose reversal medication. The kits will go out to over 2,300 schools across the state as Georgia continues to respond to the ongoing opioid epidemic and rising overdose risks tied to fentanyl exposure. Georgia’s Continuing Opioid Crisis The recent initiative is …
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Massachusetts Innovates Opioid Treatment in Primary Care
Since 2007, Massachusetts has provided a national model for its integrated approach to opioid treatment in the primary care setting. Using a nurse care model (NCM), healthcare providers receive funds to improve access and coordinate care. This is done through a dedicated nursing staff. The NCM model means physician assistants, nurse practitioners and doctors can …
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Study Highlights Lasting Impact of Parental Opioid Abuse
The opioid epidemic isn’t just claiming lives and shattering relationships among adults and families. The scourge of parental opioid abuse is also creating generational trauma among children growing up in a household impacted by substance abuse. You’ve heard the statistics: Opioid addiction is killing thousands of Americans each year. In 2023, more than 79,000 adults …
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Opioid Addiction in College Students Rising, Study Finds
A recent study from Pennsylvania State University reveals the significant risk college students face from opioids. Undergraduate researchers at the Lehigh Valley campus found that nearly a third of the campus’s students know of someone who’d suffered an opioid overdose. This study serves as yet another reminder of the stark reality that the average student …
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Kratom Derivative Raises Opioid Crisis Fears
A recent report from Kansas City, Missouri details the advent of a new addictive compound derived from Kratom that may signal the next wave of the opioid crisis. The story focuses on Madison Mcmanness, a 25 year old Kansas City resident, who relayed details of her experience with 7-hydroxymitragynine (or 7-OH for short) against the …
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Deadly Nitazenes Drive Opioid Overdose Surge in the U.S.
Fentanyl overdose deaths have been bombarding us in the news for the past several years in seemingly every corner of the nation. While we are still reeling from these tragic events, there is another opioid wreaking havoc that is even more deadly: nitazenes. According to a recent article in Rolling Stone, another class of opioids …
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Door to Door Narcan Program Saves Lives in Ohio
Lorain County, Ohio has been hit hard by the opioid crisis but a new Narcan distribution program is seeking to change that, reports say. Volunteers are quietly dispersing to neighborhoods and communities throughout the county to hand out overdose reversal kits free of charge. Fighting Stigmas, Saving Lives Natalie Karn, a community health nursing supervisor …
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Schools Lead Efforts to Address Teen Fentanyl Use Crisis
The crisis of teen fentanyl use is unfortunately nothing new. During the pandemic, adolescent overdose events more than doubled. But the fight to save kids’ lives and their futures is expanding and America’s public schools are leading the way. Confronting Teen Fentanyl Use Although the number of youth ages 12 to 17 with a past-year …
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