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Attorney General Maura Healey is distributing $700,000 to school districts and community organizations across the state to provide programs intended to prevent substance abuse among youth. ... The schools will develop an antidrug curriculum for fifth-graders and provide additional training for staff. (Freyer, 5/1)

Calls are mounting for Gov. Rick Scott to declare of public health emergency in the wake of an estimated 4,000 deaths in Florida last year due to heroin and opioid overdoses. Other states struggling with the problem - including Maryland, Alaska, and Virginia - have chosen to declare an emergency, enabling the release of additional funds for law enforcement and treatment. (Jordan, 5/1)

Officials say Virginia is joining in an effort to expand access to opioid addition treatment for prisoners. The Virginia Department of Corrections says Virginia is one of eight states picked by the National Governors Association for the “learning lab.” Officials say the states will learn about initiatives in place in Massachusetts and create plans for how to get more offenders in opioid addiction treatment. (5/2)

Fentanyl became the deadliest drug in the state last year, surging past heroin and prescription painkillers. Evidence that the painkiller epidemic gave rise to a new wave of heroin use has continued to grow, with illegal opioid deaths outnumbering prescription opioid deaths since 2013. (Demeria, 5/1)