Momentum is building to get emergency departments to play a bigger role in stemming the epidemic.
"We are overreacting to the need to lower opioid prescribing by punishing patients," says Dr. Kelly Pfeifer.
If there’s any police department that understands what an opioid epidemic means for a community, it’s New Mexico's Española Police Department. Even the chief of police has had addiction struggles within his own family.
Legislation recently signed into law in California requires doctors to check a state database before prescribing narcotics. A key advocate behind the effort says increasing media attention was crucial in winning the bill's passage.
As the legalization of weed appears imminent in California, former Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Quinones says the crucial question we should be asking is, "What kind of marijuana should we legalize?"
