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One of the places many people are first prescribed opioids is a hospital emergency room. But in one of the busiest ERs in the U.S., doctors are relying less than they used to on oxycodone, Percocet, Vicodin and other opioids to ease patients' pain. In an unusual program designed to help stem the opioid epidemic, the emergency department at St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., has been exploring alternative painkillers and methods. That strategy has led to a 58 percent drop in the ER's opioid prescriptions in the program's first year, according to numbers provided by St. Joseph's Healthcare System's chair of emergency medicine, Dr. Mark Rosenberg. (Wang, 2/20)

More than half of Marylanders say they personally know someone who has been addicted to opioids, according to a Goucher College poll released Wednesday that also found strong support for imposing term limits on state lawmakers and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The finding that 52 percent have direct ties to opioid abuse illustrates the growing scope of a crisis that was declared a state of emergency last year by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and was a major focus of the 2017 legislative session. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll in late 2015 found that nearly 30 percent of Marylanders had a close friend or relative who was addicted. (Wiggins, 2/21)

Gov. Bill Haslam’s plan to address the opioid epidemic focuses on addiction prevention and rehabilitation for addicts — a combo attack many hope will put a significant dent in the number of residents affected. About $25 million of the $30 million in the governor's budget, if passed, will go toward treatment. In addition to the governor's two signature bills, lawmakers have introduced at least 15 other pieces of legislation dealing with opioids. (Buie, 2/20)

Hope for N.H. Recovery officials said the nonprofit has been without state aid since the start of this fiscal year in July and will close centers in Franklin, Claremont and Berlin, as well as Concord. “When we were initially asked to open centers in these communities, we intended for them to be sustained via a blended funding stream. This stream was to consist of support from local businesses, organizations, and individuals as well as some state funding,” Scott Bickford, HOPE’s board chairman, wrote in the release. (Willingham, 2/21)

A Senate legislative committee has approved two bills intended to help address the state’s opioid problem. One bill sets up a task force to determine what the problem is and what could be done about it and the other sets up tracking for controlled substance prescriptions in the state. (Beck, 2/20)

The opioid epidemic in Ohio is taking a particularly heavy toll on construction workers, according to a study released Tuesday by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute. Based on federal and state data, the study estimates that 380 Ohio construction workers died from opioid overdoses in 2015 — more than double the 164 estimated for the next-highest state in the Midwest — Illinois. (Matzer Rose, 2/20)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and several states are investigating an outbreak of salmonella illness linked to kratom, an unregulated herbal supplement that is sometimes used for pain, anxiety and opioid-withdrawal symptoms, the CDC said Tuesday. The agency, which urged consumers to not use kratom in any form because of the possibility of contamination, said the infections started in October and have affected 20 states. Eleven people have been hospitalized, and no one has died. Most of the people sickened have reported consuming kratom in pills, powder or tea, according to the CDC, which didn't name any specific brands or suppliers. (McGinley, 2/20)

So far 28 people in 20 states are believed to have been sickened by contaminated kratom, a plant native to Southeast Asia that’s variously ingested as pills or powder or brewed into tea. Eleven people have been hospitalized. (Branswell, 2/20)