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Opioid overdoses have been on a devastating climb for Black drug users in St. Louis and St. Louis County, with the latest data showing a 560% increase in deaths in the region since 2015. Data released Wednesday by the Addiction Science Team of the University of Missouri-St. Louis shows 405 Black people died of opioid-related overdoses in the region in 2021, a notable increase over the previous year’s already high death toll of 379. During that period, white overdose deaths decreased. Researchers and treatment specialists say that the region hasn’t done enough to change its approach to reaching Black drug users before their lives are cut short. (Wicentowski, 4/13)

Knowingly possessing more than 1 gram of fentanyl or a fentanyl compound for personal use would be a felony in Colorado under an amendment passed Wednesday afternoon by the House Judiciary Committee to a bill seeking to stem rising overdose deaths linked to the powerful synthetic opioid. The committee’s 7-4 vote to adopt the amendment is a response to criticism from law enforcement, who said the measure — House Bill 1326  — was too weak because it failed to change a 2019 law that made possessing up to 4 grams of fentanyl a misdemeanor. Harm reduction advocates argued fiercely against making fentanyl possession for personal use a felony again, saying that the criminal justice system is not a solution to addiction. (Najmabadi and Paul, 4/13)

The doctor told Christine Allison he was going to give her husband something to make him comfortable, and a nurse pulled shut the curtain around his bed in the intensive care unit. When it opened again, Troy Allison, 44, was lifeless. His wife was stunned, she later recalled in court testimony. In the hours since an ambulance had carried him to Mount Carmel West, a Catholic hospital near their home in the Columbus, Ohio, area, Troy Allison had gone into cardiac arrest and been revived four times. But he seemed to be comfortable and resting. Results from a CT scan hadn’t come back yet. (Shammas, 4/13)

KHN: A Travel Nurse Leaves Fears Of Hospital Drug Tampering Across Three States

Health officials in at least three states are investigating a travel nurse suspected of tampering with and potentially contaminating vials and syringes of opioid painkillers in two hospitals, then returning the vials to medication cabinets where they could be unknowingly given to patients. One hundred patients who may have been exposed to contaminated syringes last year at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee were urged to get tested for hepatitis and HIV, according to state documents obtained by KHN through a public records request. (Kelman, 4/14)

One day after New Jersey cleared the way for its first legal recreational-weed sales, possibly before the end of April, a Pennsylvania Republican state senator held a hearing Tuesday on what panelists described as the perils for children and youth of adult-use pot legalization. The hearing of the Senate Aging and Youth Committee, chaired by State Sen. Judy Ward, of Blair County, represented a counterpoint to a series of three Senate Law and Justice Committee hearings in February and March billed as preparation for a bill legalizing recreational cannabis for adults. “This step would represent another monumentous policy change for the commonwealth,” Ward said in her opening remarks, referencing the legalization of medical cannabis in 2016. “Before taking this step, I strongly believe that we must consider the potential impact of this decision on our children and youth.” (Brubaker, 4/13)

Glen Klinkhart, the head of the Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, is quitting to take a job with the Alaska Department of Revenue, he told the state’s alcohol and marijuana boards this week. Klinkhart will leave his job as the state’s top alcohol and marijuana regulator on April 17, he said in his resignation letter. The letter said he feels that he has addressed the problems that led Gov. Mike Dunleavy to name him the interim chief of AMCO in November 2019. Klinkhart arrived at AMCO after the state’s alcohol and marijuana boards fired the agency’s prior director, Erika McConnell, amid a dispute with the Department of Public Safety and a controversial regulatory proposal that would have attempted to define “fun” at licensed brewery taprooms. The governor named Klinkhart the agency’s permanent director in March 2021. (Brooks, 4/13)

In 2014, The Cannabist, a subsidiary of The Denver Post, published a robust glossary of need-to-know marijuana terms like flower and dabbing to help ease local consumers into the newly legal recreational market. Since then, times have dramatically changed. You can buy edibles not just for getting high, but also for fitness and sleep aid. Cannabis “bars” where tokers can legally consume joints and THC-infused beers are on the precipice of opening. You can even score pre-made cannabutter and infused olive oil to stock your kitchen. As times have changed, so too has the vernacular. Here are 10 more recently adopted terms you should know. (Ricciardi, 4/14)

Researchers have known for years that offering people struggling with addiction small rewards, like vouchers or gift cards, for making positive changes can help break the cycle of drug or alcohol dependency. Known as “contingency management,” the treatment works by triggering the same instant gratification response in the brain that someone might get from substance abuse. But contingency management has been difficult and expensive to administer, while also being criticized for giving money that might be spent inappropriately. “All the drugs of abuse disrupt the brain reward center, which is deeper in the brain,” said David Gastfriend, DynamiCare’s cofounder and chief medical officer. “When we just put people in detox and then send them to counseling, we’re saying, ‘Use your thinking brain to try and overcome your chemical drive center.’ The problem is, behavior works in the opposite direction.” The goal of the app, by contrast, is to go right to the reward center. (Pressman, 4/13)