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Despite the continuing rise in opioid overdose deaths, one of the most effective treatments for opioid addiction is still drastically underprescribed in the United States, especially for Black patients, according to a large new study. From 2016 through 2019, scarcely more than 20 percent of patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder filled prescriptions for buprenorphine, the medication considered the gold standard in opioid addiction treatment, despite repeated visits to health care providers, according to the study, which was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Hoffman, 5/10)

Black people are far less likely than other Americans to receive buprenorphine, a key medication for treating opioid use disorder, according to a new study. White patients in need of addiction care were prescribed buprenorphine at more than twice the rate of Black patients in the six months preceding an addiction-related health emergency, according to the analysis. The treatment gap continued at a similar rate in the six months after an overdose, hospitalization, or admission to a rehab facility. (Facher, 5/10)

Former President Donald Trump spoke to New Hampshire voters during a CNN town hall held at St. Anselm College in Manchester Wednesday night. Audience members asked how he would tackle issues like abortion, Second Amendment rights, immigration and more. But nobody brought up the opioid crisis plaguing the Granite State. (Jones and Speak, 5/10)

Amid troubling signs that a dangerous sedative known as “tranq” has spread even further into the local street drug supply, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has launched a pilot program to better document the drug’s presence. Xylazine is an animal tranquilizer that began appearing several years ago in illicit pills and powders on the East Coast. It’s been linked to deaths across the country and can cause human tissue to rot, leaving users with grisly wounds that sometimes lead to amputations. (Blakinger, 5/10)

An initiative launched by Attorney General Ashley Moody will provide Florida's first responders with free naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The “Helping Heroes” program will provide naloxone to law enforcement, firefighters and paramedics at select Walmart pharmacies in Florida, according to a press release from the attorney general‘s office. Moody announced the initiative Tuesday – on National Fentanyl Awareness Day – in Clearwater. (Pinos, 5/10)

Ohio State University is about to grow psychedelic mushrooms. For scientific research, people. Ohio State, alongside the mental health and wellness research and development company Inner State Inc., was awarded the first-ever license by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to grow whole psilocybin mushrooms. The mushrooms will be used in the study of mental health treatment capabilities with naturally grown psychedelic mushrooms. (Hendrix, 5/10)