"Health researchers have some grim news for Americans: We are dying younger, and life expectancy is now down for the second straight year — something not seen in more than half a century. One undeniable culprit is the opioid epidemic, which is cutting down young adults at alarming and increasing rates, the researchers say."

Read the whole story via The Cincinnati Enquirer:
U.S. life expectancy drops for 2nd year

"Drug overdoses have surged past workplace violence, exposure to toxic chemicals, even traffic accidents as the fastest-growing cause of death on the job, according to a new government report."

Read the whole story via The Cincinnati Enquirer:
Workplace overdose deaths surge 

"In 2015, Hood became the first state attorney general to sue a prescription drugmaker for their role in the opioid epidemic. Since then, more than 100 states, cities and counties have filed similar lawsuits, with a new one popping up almost every week."

Read the whole story via Governing:
The Opioid Files: More than 100 States and Cities Are Suing Drug Companies

"It’s common for Americans to know someone with a current or past drug addiction – and it’s an experience that mostly cuts across demographic and partisan lines. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in August found that 46% of U.S. adults say they have a family member or close friend who is addicted to drugs or has been in the past."

Read the whole story via Pew Research Center:
Nearly half of American have a family member or close friend who's been addicted to drugs

"Ohio's opioid crisis is persistent and costly. According to a new report from The Ohio State University, the annual total cost of opioid addiction, abuse, and overdose deaths is estimated to be between $6.6 billion and $8.8 billion, likely more than the state spends on K-12 public education. This week's graphic, from the report, shows how opioid overdose deaths have spread in Ohio since 1999."

Read the whole report via The Ohio State University:
Taking Measure of Ohio's Opioid Crisis

"For almost a decade, an epidemic has swept silently through America, affecting major cities, small towns and rural areas alike. In 2015, respected author Sam Quinones published “Dreamland,” a book that chronicled the spread of opioids throughout the country. The book went a long way toward yanking this deadly issue from out of the darkness."

Read the whole story via The Athens News:
'Dreamland' author puts regional opioid crisis into perspective

"The Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge now is accepting proposals at www.OpioidTechChallenge.com to identify technology that holds the promise of treating pain without painkillers and diagnosing, treating and preventing abuse and overdoses."

Read the whole story via Governing:
Have an Idea to Fight Opioids? Ohio Offering Money for Technology Proposals

This is what an epidemic looks like.

Read the whole story via the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Seven Days of Heroin

"This is a story about how illegal drugs get into Ohio — and the faces of the people they kill."

Read the whole story via The Columbus Dispatch:
How business of fentanyl controls Ohio's opioid crisis

How many Americans are using prescription opioid painkillers? About one in three. That's the stunning number in a new survey released Monday from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which calculated that a whopping 91.8 million Americans used drugs like OxyContin or Vicodin in 2015.

Read the whole story via NBC News:
One in Three Americans Took Prescription Opioid Painkillers in 2015, Survey Says

Heroin users have fast become the villains of the region's opioid epidemic. No doubt some have done terrible things – stolen, placed children in jeopardy, hurt and even killed innocent people. Those acts should and must have consequences. But increasingly, people are becoming angry when a heroin user overdoses and first responders must administer Narcan to revive the individual. Actual anger is expressed by some people that a life was saved.

Read the whole story via the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Are we angry at the right people about heroin?

Cincinnati may soon have its own crowdfunding website for organizations fighting the heroin epidemic. And this was just one of the technology-inspired solutions to come out of this weekend's Hacking Heroin event organized by venture-building studio Spry Labs,17A and Cincinnati Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld's office.

Read the whole story via the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Heroin hackathon: Idea to crowdfund heroin fighters wins

Arguing that drug manufacturers triggered a "human tragedy of epic proportion" in Ohio, Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit Wednesday against five companies that make addictive painkillers.

Read the whole story via The Columbus Dispatch:
DeWine: Drugmakers got Ohioans addicted, raked in profits

Ohio doctors, dentists and other health professionals will be able to prescribe only up to seven days of painkillers for adults and five days for kids and teens under new rules announced Thursday. State officials estimated 109 million fewer opiate doses would be administered under the new limits.

Read the whole story via Cleveland.com:
New Ohio rules limit some opioid prescriptions to 7-day supplies

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office partnered with the Ohio Department of Health and the Drug Free Action Alliance to provide free collection bins to local law enforcement agencies in Ohio. The drop boxes are mailbox-style disposal bins that can be placed inside law enforcement agencies to be used by residents during normal business hours.

Find drop box locations throughout the state via Ohio Attorney General:
Prescription Drug Drop Boxes

The Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring (OSAM) Network has released its most recent OSAM-O-Gram with reports that fentanyl use is outpacing heroin in Ohio, first hand discussions from users, and shocking statistics.

Read the whole story via OMHAS:
Fentanyl, and the Deadlier Carfentanil, Now Outpacing Heroin Sales in Many Areas

A non-narcotic pain pill that led the state in prescriptions in December is becoming more widely abused. This week, the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network issued an alert that abuse of gabapentin, more commonly known by the brand name Neurontin, has been on the rise over the past six months, especially by those with a history of abuse to heroin and prescription pain pills.

Read the whole story via the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Pain pill alternative is being abused

Opioid prescribing in Ohio declined for a fourth consecutive year in 2016, according to a newly released report from the State Board of Pharmacy’s Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS). The number of opioid prescriptions provided to Ohio patients decreased by 20 percent during the same period. The report also finds a 78.2 percent decrease in the amount of people engaged in the practice of "doctor shopping" since 2012.

Read the whole story via OhioMHAS NewsNow:
New Report Shows Continued Progress in Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing

Gov. John Kasich recently signed another bill targeting Ohio's opiate and heroin epidemic. Senate Bill 319, sponsored by Sen. John Eklund, expands access to the anti-overdose drug naloxone to entities such as homeless shelters, halfway houses, schools, and treatment centers that deal with populations at high risk of heroin overdose.

Read the whole story via Governing:
Leading the Nation in Opioid Deaths, Ohio Fights Back

"Along the road, I talked to judges, police officers, truant officers, addiction recovery counselors, addicts, and ordinary people coming and going. There was a common theme: This isn’t the place it used to be."

Read the whole story via the Washington Post:
An addiction crisis along 'the backbone of America'