Opioids, Fentanyl and other Drug Issues

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As opioids overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corp. report published this week.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/03/18/as-opioids-overdose-deaths-keep-rising-report-urges-lawmakers-to-develop-new-approaches/?

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FL aims to catch up with other states to allow for fentanyl test strips to prevent drug overdoses

With more than 106,000 people dying from drug overdoses nationally in 2021, more states are implementing harm reduction tools to deal with the problem, especially when it comes to accidental deaths due to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the CDC.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/03/22/fl-aims-to-catch-up-with-other-states-to-allow-for-fentanyl-test-strips-to-prevent-drug-overdoses/?

[phkrause]

Fentanyl’s newest victims are our children. Partisan gridlock means we aren’t protecting them.

Andrew was just 15 when he arrived in my Scottsdale emergency room, pale, lifeless and in cardiac arrest. 

https://www.azmirror.com/2023/03/17/fentanyls-newest-victims-are-our-children-partisan-gridlock-means-we-arent-protecting-them/?

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FDA approves over-the-counter Narcan. Here’s what it means

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved selling the leading version of naloxone without a prescription, setting the overdose-reversing drug on course to become the first opioid treatment drug to be sold over the counter.

https://apnews.com/article/narcan-naloxone-overdose-opioids-9ad693795ce31e3a867a4dd4b65dbde8?

With overdoses up, states look at harsher fentanyl penalties

RENO, Nev. (AP) — State lawmakers nationwide are responding to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history by pushing harsher penalties for possessing fentanyl and other powerful lab-made opioids that are connected to about 70,000 deaths a year.

https://apnews.com/article/fentanyl-penalties-state-legislatures-98a97e53a984e8f5a265ed229199ecb1?

Experts urge better opioid rescue drug access to save lives

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Jessie Blanchard started small nearly five years ago, just trying to get enough of the rescue drug naloxone that reverses opioid overdoses to keep her daughter from dying from an overdose.

https://apnews.com/article/naloxone-narcan-overdose-availability-ec12f62eef12ebc67de77afdbb6f11b9?

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San Jose police union executive charged with trying to import, distribute valeryl fentanyl and other opioids

SAN JOSE -- The executive director of the San Jose Police Officers' Association (SJPOA) has been charged with attempting to illegally import valeryl fentanyl, an analog of fentanyl, and other synthetic opioids into the U.S. for mass distribution.

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/san-jose-police-union-joanne-segovia-fentanyl-opiods/?

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An emerging threat: Drug mix of xylazine, fentanyl

The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an “emerging threat” when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine.

https://apnews.com/article/veterinary-drug-fentanyl-xylazine-emerging-threat-a6bd800757575385fd878b4335f67c6d

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Mexican cartel targeted by Biden administration in multiple fentanyl indictments

WASHINGTON — As illicit fentanyl seizures reach record numbers, the Biden administration on Friday announced “government-wide efforts” to counter narcotics trafficking, including criminally charging members of the Sinaloa Cartel operating out of Mexico, and sanctioning Chinese producers of the chemicals used to make the synthetic drug.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/04/16/mexican-cartel-targeted-by-biden-administration-in-multiple-fentanyl-indictments/?

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Gov. Newsom sends National Guard and CHP to tackle San Francisco's fentanyl crisis

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is directing the California Highway Patrol and National Guard to assist San Francisco authorities in combating the fentanyl crisis in the city.

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/22/1171467560/newsom-san-francisco-fentanyl-national-guard-highway-patrol?

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‘El Chapo’ sons charged with smuggling cheap fentanyl to US

MEXICO CITY (AP) — With Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán serving a life sentence, his sons steered the family business into fentanyl, establishing a network of labs churning out massive quantities of the cheap, deadly drug that they smuggled into the U.S., prosecutors revealed in a recent indictment.

https://apnews.com/article/fentanyl-mexico-united-states-sinaloa-27eace65ef2c4910610ff944e0fb181a?

Punishment or prevention: California debates fentanyl crisis

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Pamela Smith remembers vividly the last time she saw her only son alive.

https://apnews.com/article/fentanyl-crisis-bills-criminal-penalties-34e42a6ee64deb9de09bca8e86e79db2?

More sanctions for deadly fentanyl if bill becomes law

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine — turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-fentanyl-china-mexico-drug-policy-opioids-6cf58911caf1f69d17d469a92b8bcd91?

Mexico arrests drug cartel lieutenant near Texas border

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Police in Mexico said Monday they have arrested a top lieutenant of the violent Metros faction of the Gulf drug cartel implicated in 23 attacks on police and nine against military personnel.

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-drugs-arrest-gulf-cartel-7d1e350e8e0df1d395cadb20938f4d6e?

[Gail]

My daughter works with people with addictions. She carries a Naxolone kit on her purse wherever she goes.

Much is said in media about drug cartels. This might oversimplify but my question is, Is as much attention being given to why there is such a demand for the drugs?

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Washington state to decriminalize drugs unless lawmakers act

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is calling lawmakers back to work after they rejected a bill setting out a new statewide drug policy — a development that has put the state on the brink of decriminalizing possession of fentanyl and other drugs while also depriving it of much-needed investments in public health.

https://apnews.com/article/drugs-fentanyl-heroin-washington-state-decriminalize-1eeb804a14e8ec80e5e55c7520323078?

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Nearly 300 arrested in 'largest international operation' targeting fentanyl and opioid trafficking: DOJ

Nearly 300 people were arrested as a result of a years-long, three-continent operation targeting darknet trafficking of fentanyl and opioids, the Justice Department and FBI announced Tuesday.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/300-arrested-largest-international-operation-targeting-fentanyl-opioid/story?

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Vending machines are the latest tool for fighting opioid overdoses

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vending machines that have long been stocked with snacks are getting repurposed to distribute life-saving supplies to help fight the opioid epidemic.

https://apnews.com/article/narcan-naloxone-vending-machines-opioids-d8462e228c57623769046a6b2e6e2f9e?

FDA approves over-the-counter Narcan. Here’s what it means

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved selling the leading version of naloxone without a prescription, setting the overdose-reversing drug on course to become the first opioid treatment drug to be sold over the counter.

https://apnews.com/article/narcan-naloxone-overdose-opioids-9ad693795ce31e3a867a4dd4b65dbde8

Fentanyl fuels string of deadly weekend overdoses in Portland, Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A series of suspected drug overdoses left at least eight people dead over the weekend in Portland, Oregon, according to the city’s police bureau.

https://apnews.com/article/drug-overdose-deaths-fentanyl-portland-oregon-94d880c06809bc5248d8c14f34a92a64

With overdoses up, states look at harsher fentanyl penalties

RENO, Nev. (AP) — State lawmakers nationwide are responding to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history by pushing harsher penalties for possessing fentanyl and other powerful lab-made opioids that are connected to about 70,000 deaths a year.

https://apnews.com/article/fentanyl-penalties-state-legislatures-98a97e53a984e8f5a265ed229199ecb1

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After yearslong delay, DEA revokes license of drug distributor over opioid crisis failures

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration stripped one of the nation’s largest drug distributors of its license to sell highly addictive painkillers Friday after determining it failed to flag thousands of suspicious orders at the height of the opioid crisis.

https://apnews.com/article/opioids-fentanyl-drugs-addiction-painkillers-dea-e29d16194b0fd44b942fee2c3477390d?

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Fentanyl-related drugs permanently made criminal under bill passed by U.S. House

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in the U.S. House passed bipartisan legislation Thursday in an effort to curb staggering overdose deaths from illegal fentanyl substances that are illicitly produced and up to 50 times stronger than heroin.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/05/26/fentanyl-related-drugs-permanently-made-criminal-under-bill-passed-by-u-s-house/?

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The U.S. Is Unhappy That Mexico Is Spending Money on Its Own Citizens

The U.S. government is frustrated that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is prioritizing social spending for the benefit of his people over addressing matters that are important to the U.S., according to an excerpt of a leaked top-secret intelligence document. Part of a cache of classified intelligence records that were leaked on the platform Discord earlier this year, the document highlights the growing discontent by U.S. officials toward Mexico’s president, who has significantly limited U.S. law enforcement agencies’ role in the war on drugs, as fentanyl trafficked by Mexican criminal groups has worsened the overdose crisis in the U.S. and violence in Mexico.

https://theintercept.com/2023/05/26/mexico-us-government-social-spending-infrastructure/?

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The Sacklers, Jewish family behind OxyContin, will pay $6B in deal that shields them from lawsuits

(JTA) – The Sackler family, the Jewish billionaires whose marketing of the painkiller drug OxyContin fueled the United States’ ongoing opioid epidemic, will receive full immunity from all civil legal claims in exchange for spending up to $6 billion on addiction treatment and prevention programs.

https://www.jta.org/2023/05/31/united-states/the-sacklers-jewish-family-behind-oxycontin-will-pay-6b-in-deal-that-shields-them-from-lawsuits?

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Sheriff's office announces 41 arrests in Volusia and Lake counties in drug trafficking bust

DAYTONA BEACH — Forty-one people connected to a central Florida drug trafficking ring have been arrested thanks to a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement effort, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Tuesday.

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/crime/2023/06/13/41-arrested-in-fentanyl-heroin-drug-trafficking-operation/70317686007/?

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Former CEO sentenced to 27 months for distributing fentanyl and oxycodone and defrauding DEA

The former Chief Executive Officer of Rochester Drug Co-Operative (RDC), a pharmaceutical distributor, was sentenced last March in a Manhattan federal court to 27 months in prison for conspiring to unlawfully distribute oxycodone and fentanyl, according to a from the United States Department of Justice.

https://dailywise.com/2023/06/16/former-ceo-sentenced-to-27-months-for-distributing-fentanyl-and-oxycodone-and-defrauding-dea/

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Impeached Texas Attorney General Partnered With Troubled Businessman to Push Opioid Program

A year after persuading Texas lawmakers to buy millions of child identification kits that had no proven record of success, a businessman with a troubled history found an in with the state's attorney general.

https://www.propublica.org/article/ken-paxton-kenny-hansmire-partner-on-opioid-program-texas?

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Animal sedative xylazine in fentanyl is causing wounds and scrambling efforts to stop overdoses

WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, scrambling longstanding methods for reversing overdoses and treating addiction.

https://apnews.com/article/xylazine-tranquilizer-animal-sedative-opioids-overdose-eabdd7332f309e9e9b610db0c2c9922c?

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Flesh-eating “Tranq” floods Florida

Flesh-rotting fentanyl laced with the animal sedative known as “Tranq” is flooding portions of a Florida county.

https://www.wdbo.com/news/flesh-eating-tranq-floods-florida/2YBH6URPDJBPPJUIXYDY7WG46E/

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States stiffen penalties for fentanyl, despite public health concerns

Critics argue that harsh penalties could deter those in need of help and worsen societal disparities

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/07/20/states-stiffen-penalties-for-fentanyl-despite-public-health-concerns/?

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As clinics pivot post-Roe, battle rages over syringe service in opioid-ravaged West Virginia

Animal sedative xylazine in fentanyl is causing wounds and scrambling efforts to stop overdoses

New nasal spray to reverse fentanyl and other opioid overdoses gets FDA approval

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N.Y.C. Drug Dealer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison in Death of 'The Wire' Actor Michael K. Williams

Irvin Cartagena, 40, sold Williams the fentanyl-laced heroin that caused his death in September 2021

https://people.com/new-york-city-dealer-sentenced-10-years-death-actor-michael-k-williams-7693247