Overdose

U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Falling — But the Numbers Still Tell a Serious Story

TRACKING THE NUMBERS – May 26, 2026 - New federal data suggests the nation’s drug overdose crisis may be easing somewhat — at least compared to the devastating peaks seen in recent years. According to the la... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryArticles of InterestBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionOverdose

Turning Grief into a Lifeline for Thousands

BEING OF SERVICE – May 29, 2026 - Points of Light is proud to share the following uplifting and inspiring story. However, we acknowledge that portions of this story may be difficult for some readers. We encourage you... Read More...

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Limitations of Naloxone in Reversing Overdoses

DIER BEWARE – April 2026 - “Our study shows that the current doses of naloxone may not be sufficient to reverse overdoses caused by newer synthetic opioids,” said study lead author Maarten A. van Lemmen, Ph.D., of th... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryArticles of InterestBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionOverdose

‘Pill Mill’ Laws Cut Opioid Deaths and Overprescribing

REMEMBER LAWS? – May 19, 2026 - Overprescribing in problematic pain clinics is driven by profit motive, which increases when opioids are both prescribed and dispensed by the provider. Pill mills typically dispense op... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMay 26 2026opioid crisisopioidsOverdoseoxycontin

Overdose Deaths Fall for 3rd Straight Year

VIDEO – GREAT NEWS FOR ADDICTS – May 13, 2026 - About 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year — about 14% fewer than the previous year, according to preliminary government data. It was the third straight an... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMay 19 2026Overdose

Series of Overdoses Are Public Safety Concern in Portland

VIDEO – POLICE CAN HELP – April 27, 2026 - Police said there were seven suspected overdoses in just 20 hours. WATCH ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMay 05 2026Overdose

Overdoses Spike for Visitors to OC in California

DIZZYLAND – April 26, 2026 - Visitors to a 10-city region in Orange County, California, with a large concentration of substance use disorder treatment centers experience disproportionately high levels of overdose. Th... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMay 05 2026Overdose

100 Times Stronger Than Fentanyl, Carfentanil Seizures Surge

WE NEED A NEW CA – April 17, 2026 - Carfentanil, a weapons-grade chemical that authorities say is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl, has seen a drastic resurgence across the ... Read More...

Apr 28 2026Big PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionfentanylOverdose

Family Sues County Jail Over Woman’s Overdose Death

NOW WHO GOES TO JAIL? – April 19, 2026 - In May 2024, Breanna Esparza died behind bars from a fentanyl overdose just hours before she was to be released on May 29, 2024, according to a recently filed wrongful death s... Read More...

Apr 28 2026Big PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaOverdoseTrauma

Sam Levinson Fought Hard For Angus Cloud’s Sobriety

EUPHORIA TRAGEDY – April 9, 2026 - Cloud passed away in 2023 at the age of 25 from a drug overdose after playing sensitive drug dealer Fezco in the hit HBO show. The industry and beyond mourned the young actor, whose... Read More...

Apr 14 2026Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaOverdoseTrauma

‘Ketamine Queen’ Off to Prison for Supplying “Special K” to Matthew Perry

WHAT A SHAME – April 8, 2026 - Federal prosecutors said Jasveen Sangha ran a high-volume drug trafficking business out of her North Hollywood home. Sangha sold about 50 vials of ketamine to Perry for $11,000 — includ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryApr 14 2026Big PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyDrug Abuse and Addictioninterventionopioid crisisopioidsOverdoseoxycontinTrauma

Drug Overdose Deaths Fall

LIFE MATTERS – Mar. 23, 2026 - The number of overdose deaths fell by nearly 3% from 2022 to 2023, the first year-over-year decline the CDC has recorded since 2018. Preliminary estimates suggest that 76,516 Americans ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMar 31 2026OverdoseRecoveryRecovery Advocate

Opioid Use and Overdoses Plummet on Long Island. Here’s why!

PROGRESS – Mar. 26, 2026 - (photo-Massapequa resident Tricia Ragusa, a mother and educator, is in recovery from opioid addiction) Far fewer people are using opioids than a decade ago, surveys indicate, and substance ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMar 31 2026opioid crisisopioidsOverdoseoxycontin

Mom Shares Story of Son’s Fatal Fentanyl Overdose

SO SAD – Feb. 12, 2026 - Lantz Tucker came home from work exhausted and ready for bed. Before turning in, the 22-year-old from Kansas took what he believed was an oxycodone pill. He never woke up.His mother fou... Read More...

Big PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediafentanylMar 03 2026Overdose

Mass Overdose in Downtown Indianapolis

VIDEO – WHY? – Feb. 12, 2026 - Six people were hospitalized after a suspected mass overdose in downtown Indianapolis Wednesday morning. Read More ... Read More...

Big PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMar 03 2026Overdose

Synthetic Cannabis – aka K2 – a Rising Factor in Nonfatal Overdoses

KEEP IT REAL – Feb. 12, 2026 - K2 is not actually cannabis, but rather a chemical that produces a hallucinogenic effect, and is most commonly sprayed on plant matter or paper, though it may also be vaped, according t... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 24 2026marijuanaOverdose

Joshua Project Delivers Help Amid Homeless Overdose Crisis

VIDEO – FEEDING THE POOR – Feb. 12, 2026 - Members of The Joshua Project, a faith-based outreach organization, set up tables offering clothes, warm drinks and information about recovery resources. Organizers said wha... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 24 2026homelessOverdoseRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Fentanyl Overdoses Hitting The Elderly

VIDEO – HANDLE WITH CARE – Feb. 13, 2026 - Fentanyl continues to be the primary cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Even a very small amount of it can cause a lethal overdose. Last year, synthet... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 24 2026fentanylOverdose

‘Disturbing’ Scenes: Record Overdoses as Powerful Sedative Hits B.C.

ADDICTS BEWARE – Jan. 29, 2026 - She said workers were finding about 20 people unconscious each night, “lying out in the cold in the street,” and suffering memory loss due to overdoses. Goodison said the workers w... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 17 2026Overdose

US Overdose Deaths Fell in 2025

THANK GOD – Jan. 14, 2026 - U.S. overdose deaths fell through most of last year, suggesting a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades. Federal data released Wednesday showed th... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and Addictionharm reductioninterventionJan 27 2026OverdoseRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Report Shows Pennsylvania Overdose Program REVERSED 9000 Overdoses

GO JOSH SHAPIRO – Jan. 8, 2026 - The program is run by the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and focused on preventing fatal overdoses in PA. It does this by distributing supplies to local organizations, provid... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and Addictionharm reductioninterventionJan 20 2026Overdose

Leading Overdose Killer is Cocaine. How do we treat it?

COKE IS BACK – Jan. 6, 2026 - For the first time in decades, cocaine is killing more people in Cuyahoga County than opioids – including fentanyl – and the drug is going to require a different type of treatment and pr... Read More...

Big PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionJan 20 2026Overdose

He trusted ChatGPT for drug advice then died of an overdose

AUDIO – INTERNET KILLS – Jan. 5, 2025 - On a Sunday two years ago, Sam Nelson opened up ChatGPT and started typing. Naturally, for an 18-year-old on the verge of college, he decided to ask for advice about drugs. “Ho... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and Mediacell phoneDrug Abuse and AddictioninternetinterventionJan 13 2026OverdoseSmartphone AddictionTrauma

Naloxone Boxes: OD Antidote Accessible 24/7 for Free

NO ONE HAS TO DIE – Dec. 30, 2025 - “Naloxone is such a safe, easy-to-use, lifesaving tool, and it’s often treated like, ‘Oh, this is a medicine—we have to safeguard it, we have to restrict it,’” co-author Shelley Fa... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and Addictionharm reductioninterventionJan 06 2026OverdoseRecoveryRecovery Advocate

Tommy Lee Jones’ Daughter Victoria Found Dead in Suspected Overdose at SF Hotel

HOW UTTERLY SAD – Jan. 2, 2026 - Victoria, who was 34, was found unresponsive early on Thursday, Jan. 1 at the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel, where she was pronounced dead, PEOPLE previously reported. In dispatch audi... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyJan 06 2026OverdoseTrauma

Overdose Crisis is Turning Around

LESSONS LEARNED? – Dec. 25, 2025 - Overdose deaths are falling at a pace the United States has not seen in decades. Centers for Disease Control projections show a nearly 25% decline for the twelve months ending in Ap... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 30 2025Drug Abuse and AddictionOverdoseRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Overdose Deaths Down In The U.S.

AUDIO – THE RIGHT DIRECTION – Nov. 30, 2025 - Methadone helps patients like Trina resist cravings for fentanyl. It’s been around for decades, but most patients have to find their way to a designated methadone clinic ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryDec 09 2025interventionOverdoseRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Dramatic Decreases in Drug Deaths

HOPE IS IN THE AIR – Nov. 24, 2025 - Drug deaths in New Hampshire fell 33.4% from 2023 to 2024, according to data from the New Hampshire Drug Monitoring Initiative. That’s the largest single-year decrease in over a d... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDec 02 2025Drug Abuse and AddictionOverdoseRecovery

Are States Spending Opioid Settlement Funds Wisely?

FOUND MONEY LOST – Nov. 2025 - In March 2022, companies involved in the opioid crisis reached a settlement with New Jersey that would provide the state $1 billion over 18 years. These funds were generally understood ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBig PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaNov 25 2025opioid crisisopioidsOverdoseoxycontin

The Opioid Crisis We’re Not Measuring

WHY NOT? – Nov. 19, 2025 - We Can’t Fix the Opioid Crisis If We Don’t Know What’s Killing People. Much of our country still relies on toxicology panels built for yesterday’s drug supply. These panels can reliably ide... Read More...

Big PharmaBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionNov 25 2025opioid crisisopioidsOverdose

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