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President Joe Biden’s drug czar on Wednesday declared that fentanyl mixed with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer known as “tranq” that has been linked to a rising number of overdose deaths across the U.S., represents an “emerging threat” facing the nation. The declaration from Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, requires the Biden administration to develop a federal plan to address the crisis. (Arkin, 4/12)

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed into law expansive criminal justice bills that aim to overhaul Arkansas’ parole system and hold dealers of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs responsible for overdose deaths. "We will not rest until we hold criminals in Arkansas accountable and enforce the law on the books," the Republican governor said during a news conference. "We can and we must do everything that is within our power to protect the people of our state." (Langhorne, 4/11)

New Hampshire is planning to distribute more than 700 drug overdose reversal kits in various public locations throughout the state. The “NaloxBoxes” provide access to naloxone, medication approved to reverse opioid overdoses. Any business or community entity is eligible to request a NaloxBox unit to install in an accessible and highly visible area, the state Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release on Tuesday. (4/11)

Morgan City police have arrested a Belle Rose woman accused of failing to give timely help to an opioid overdose victim. ... Police reports indicate that instead of calling for medical attention, the person was looking for Narcan, which delayed medical attention that the subject needed. (4/11)

According to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, changes in regional opioid prescribing and regional suicide rates tend to move in the same direction. This relationship held for rates of opioid prescribing, rates of high-dose prescribing and long-term prescribing, and having multiple opioid prescribers. Until now it was not known whether certain opioid prescribing patterns were associated with particularly elevated suicide risk. (4/11)

A philanthropic giant’s recent hire of a researcher with controversial theories on naloxone access is raising alarms among public health advocates who worry the move marks a shift in major donors’ approach to addiction treatment. (Owermohle, 4/12)