³Ô¹Ï²»´òìÈ

Before the rising toll of opioid overdoses was labeled an epidemic, and before the death of pop star Prince showed that anyone could be a victim of painkiller misuse, there was a group of doctors in Little Falls, Minn., looking at their drug prescriptions and wondering what the heck they were doing. Stunned by the number of opioid prescriptions and drug-related arrests, doctors with CHI St. Gabriel’s Health in 2014 were among the first in the nation to launch a campaign to reduce opioid dependence. (Olson, 9/26)

A safe space in Baltimore for drug use for those addicted to opioids would generate an estimated $6 million in net healthcare cost savings and bring 121 people into treatment annually, according to a panel of law enforcement officials and a Johns Hopkins professor on Tuesday. The panel appeared before a joint legislative committee on behavioral health and opioid use disorders in Annapolis and presented research that indicated Maryland would benefit from opening a safe-consumption space in Baltimore. (Slater, 9/26)