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Homeless, occasionally incarcerated and about 24-hours after his last hit of heroin, Norman Jones walked into the big white van parked just steps from the door to Baltimore City’s jail looking for an exit from his way of life. “Enough is enough” said the 56-year-old Jones as he waited for a prescription for buprenorphine, a medication used to forestall withdrawal and long-term cravings. (Cohn and McDaniels, 1/3)

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has filed a bill that would help fill gaps in the state’s system for tracking prescription opioid suppliers in an effort to identify patients who might be abusing prescription painkillers. Pharmacies currently have to submit information to the Iowa prescription monitoring program (PMP) when they dispense opioids. (Sostaric, 1/2)

As the numbers of addicts escalate, the numbers of children placed in out-of-home care because of parental drug abuse is increasing, according to data captured by the Department of Children and Families. ... Substance abuse played a role in two-thirds of the cases where children were removed from their homes within 30 days of birth last year. (Kam, 1/2)

Kaiser Health News: Pharmacists Slow To Dispense Lifesaving Overdose Drug

Gale Dunham, a pharmacist in Calistoga, Calif., knows the devastation the opioid epidemic has wrought, and she is glad the anti-overdose drug naloxone is becoming more accessible. But so far, Dunham said, she has not taken advantage of a California law that allows pharmacists to dispense the medication to patients without a doctor’s prescription. She said she plans to take the training required at some point but has not yet seen much demand for the drug. (Gorman, 1/3)