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Smoke from the wildfires ravaging the West Coast is reaching as far east as New York City, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The wildfires, 80 of which were reported as of Monday in 13 different states, are causing harmful air quality conditions across the country. (Polus, 7/20)

Wildfires raging across the western United States and Canada, including a "monster" two-week-old blaze in Oregon, on Tuesday belched smoke and soot that gusted eastward and caused harmful air pollution as far away as New York City. In 13 western states, more than 80 large active wildfires have charred almost 1.3 million acres (526,090 hectares) of drought-parched vegetation in recent weeks, an area larger than Delaware, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho. (Szekely and Gorman, 7/20)

Drug overdose deaths increased significantly across the country last year, but Florida in particular saw a huge spike. More than 93,000 people died of a drug overdose in the U.S. in 2020, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s the highest number of overdose deaths the country has ever recorded, and reflects a 29.4% increase from 2019. Florida ranks second in the nation for overdose deaths, behind California. Last year, 7,579 people died from a drug overdose, an increase of 37% from 2019. (Wentz, 7/20)

Tennessee officials say they’ve finished deconstructing emergency COVID-19 care sites in Nashville and Memphis. According to a news release, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said this week that the sites finished serving their purpose of providing additional hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients. (7/21)

Health insurance premiums are expected to stay stable next year for individuals buying coverage on the Colorado insurance exchange, continuing a cost-saving trend under a state-run program that covers the most expensive cases, Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday. Individuals buying on the exchange are expected to save more than 24% next year compared with what they would pay if they had to purchase coverage without the state program, the Democratic governor said in a statement. The average cost will be 1.4% more than this year, according to preliminary estimates. (Anderson, 7/20)

If denied entry, disengage. If a person facing involuntary hospitalization becomes combative or refuses services, disengage. No more restraints. No more forced entry. Leave and try again later. De-escalation is the essence of the Boston Police Department’s new rules of engagement, distributed departmentwide last week, for interacting with people in mental health crises. The guidelines, effective immediately, call for calm and measured responses and attention to the needs of the person in crisis, and affirm that “persons suffering from possible mental illness are afforded the same constitutional rights as everyone else.” “It gives us protocols where there were none before,” said Sergeant Detective John Boyle, the police spokesman. “It’s a coordinated response to mental health issues.” (Alanez, 7/20)

San Francisco paramedics - not just police officers and doctors - can now order people to be held in confinement for up to 72 hours if they believe those people are experiencing a mental health crisis and are a danger to themselves or others. A new law will give about three dozen paramedics the authority to impose mental health holds on disturbed people as the city turns to non-police responses to deal with crises often visible on the streets. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the legislation sponsored by Supervisor Ahsha Safaí on Tuesday. (Moench, 7/20)

A Tuesday report from advocacy group Mental Health America (MHA) says that a majority of states are not ready to address youth mental health as schools prepare to reopen for in-person learning in the fall. The analysis reports that just 14 states have fully expanded Medicaid to cover mental health services in schools, and only a handful have legislation requiring mental health education. (Coleman, 7/20)