Opioids

The fight against fentanyl is increasingly being waged in schools, jails and on city streets in the Pacific Northwest, where state officials in Oregon and Washington have named it a top issue as overdose deaths rise.

Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, plans to introduce a bill in the 2024 session to provide funding for addiction medication, screenings and more.

The initiative comes amid a big jump in the number of teens who’ve died from drug overdoses in the last five years.

Oregon Health & Science University author of national study says jails have an opportunity to treat drug addiction.

The settlement funds are the result of thousands of lawsuits filed against a host of health care companies, including Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, CVS Health, and Walmart, for aggressively promoting and distributing painkillers.

In mid-July, Jackson County medical examiners identified ten drug overdose deaths in just five days . They believe nine of those deaths were related to the powerful opioid fentanyl.

Northern California’s Yurok Tribe declared an emergency this month over a surge in fentanyl overdoses. The problem exists among tribes across the region.

Since it was implemented 14 years ago, Oregon’s prescription drug monitoring program has lagged behind other states in terms of the type of data captured, who has access to it and how it's being used.

One lawmaker said she’s seeing a “skyrocketing” problem of too many people with substance abuse disorder being unable to access treatment and described her bills as a “stopgap” that she said will save lives.

Oregon will receive as much as $173 million to prevent and treat addiction and substance use disorder as part of three national settlements with pharmacy chains involved in the opioid epidemic, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Monday.

After two settlements with manufacturers and distributors of opioids, Oregon is expected to receive about $425 million to aid for treatment and prevention of opioid abuse.

Oregon and Washington are set to receive tens of millions of dollars from a national settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family over their roles in the opioid crisis.