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Holistically addressing the addiction crisis is a big and complex task, but there is something relatively simple that can be done to save lives and protect first responders throughout the commonwealth. The state should mandate that all first responders carry Narcan. More than ever, our first responders are frequently heading to overdose calls. How we equip that response should be informed by the ongoing toll of the opioid epidemic. Narcan, the brand name of naloxone, is an opioid antagonist that can immediately reverse an opioid-related overdose. It is portable and simple to use, so it can be easily administered at the scene of a suspected overdose and save a victim from respiratory distress and possible death. (10/28)

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in the world," it happens that the first jury trial in the deluge of the opioid epidemic happened in northeast Tennessee. Three district attorneys representing nine northeast Tennessee counties ravaged by the opioid epidemic determined to prosecute three pharmaceutical companies. In early July 2022, the jury selection of six local Tennessean “peers” had begun. This was a litigation with three initial defendants, Purdue, Mallinckrodt and Endo Pharmaceuticals. (Lloyd I. Sederer, 10/31)

At a party in Venice in September, four people overdosed from what they thought was cocaine, three of them dying before paramedics arrived. The cocaine they used reportedly contained fentanyl. The deaths were another example of what has taken place across the U.S. over the last few years as we have entered what I call the synthetic era of drugs — street dope made with chemicals; no plants involved. Synthetic drugs of various kinds have been around for decades, but none have come close to the supply and threat of the two staples now coming up from Mexico: fentanyl and methamphetamine. And with synthetic drugs, as with most other products both legal and illegal, supply shapes demand. (Sam Quinones, 10/31)

Despite massive spending on lobbying and campaign contributions, the big drug companies are slowly losing their stranglehold on state legislatures across the country. In Maryland, Maine, Oregon and Colorado, consumers, patients, public health advocates and providers demanding more affordable prescription drugs have succeeded in passing landmark legislation that will finally help manage runaway drug costs. The New Mexico Legislature should build on this momentum and pass a Prescription Drug Affordability Board next session to help reduce the cost of health care and benefit all New Mexicans. (Jeff Steinborn and Angelica Rubio, 10/30)