We all recognize there is a heroin problem in our society right now. We have even come to understand that heroin is not someone else's problem, but our own. It is being used by people we know, in places we frequent. In our neighborhoods, by our children. But awareness is only the first step toward addressing the problem...(The Intelligencer)

Heroin is being called an epidemic across the nation, and in Pennsylvania. It takes lives and destroys families. Members of the York County Heroin Task Force are ramping up their efforts to stop the spread of the problem...(Fox43)

You often hear the word epidemic to describe the prevalence of heroin use in Central Pennsylvania.  A powerful opiate drug that once was the scourge of inner cities has found its way to the suburbs and small towns of Pennsylvania...(WITF)

If you do have prescription painkillers in your home, experts suggest keeping them locked up and out of the reach of children.  And, when you're done with a prescription they say get rid of it instead of keeping it around for a day you may need it again...(WITF)

Local police officers will train in the coming weeks on the use of an anti-overdose drug that reverses the effects of heroin and prescription opioids.  The Northumberland County District Attorney's Office recently informed municipal police departments about the program. An online training regiment is being finalized by the state Department of Health...(News Item)

Three years ago, Steps Inside, a nonprofit drug and alcohol drop-in center in Waynesburg with a mission of recovery, created a "Community Recovery" committee to further that mission in the area...(PennLive)

Monday's Smart Talk marks the launch of WITF's Real Life Issues: Drugs and Young People project. Over the next few months, we'll examine issues that you may or may not be aware of, but topics that are too important to set aside and deal with later...(WITF)

Heroin is affecting the region at epidemic levels and the problem is only expected to get worse, law enforcement officials told the Pennsylvania Economy League at a meeting Friday afternoon...(Times Tribune)

The cost of a single heroin packet in the area is equal to a gallon of gasoline and cheaper than an 18-ounce glass of draft beer at a restaurant, two law enforcement officials said...(Times Leader)

Investigators are still looking for the original source of last winter's deadly batch of fentanyl-laced heroin that killed nearly two dozen Western Pennsylvanians, U.S. Attorney David Hickton said Friday...(TribLive)

(Georgia) When Nikki Motta sent an email to the Suffolk County Police Department, on September 22, 2014, asking to meet, and thank, Police Officer Matthew Siesto-I knew her story was special. Officer Siesto had saved Motta's life twice in the same month-October 2012-using the miracle drug, Narcan...(PIX11)

Many first responders' - even some university police officers - are carrying a new tool in their first-aid kits. It's naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote drug, and today it's more widely available than ever. Naxolone can seem like a miracle drug when administered to an OD'ing patient. How does it work?..(The Conversation)

(New Mexico) Sheriff's deputies in Santa Fe will soon have a new weapon to combat overdoses.  It's called naloxone and it's proven to work...(KOAT)

(South Carolina) Prescription drug abuse continues to be a growing problem in our area, but a local lab service company is helping doctors here to put a stop to the trend. Mark Roth is the VP of Operations at Physicians Choice Laboratory Services...(WCNC)

(Wisconsin) At least 71 people had died in Milwaukee County from heroin overdoses by the end of August, meaning the county took just eight months to top its annual totals from each of the previous six years...(Journal Sentinel)

(South Carolina) Experts in the Upstate are pushing to get the anti-overdose drug Naloxone, or Narcan, more readily available for police and other first responders...(Fox Carolina)

(Massachusetts) Police Chief David Scott has reported that the Pepperell Police Department, just one week after completing the necessary training to deploy Narcan in its police cruisers, has already saved a life with the overdose-reversing drug...(Nashoba Publishing)

(Georgia) For the fourth time in two months, a Woodstock Police officer saved the life of a person who was overdosing on drugs...Dunn was the first to arrive on scene and quickly assessed the situation. He administered Narcan, an antidote drug that reverses opiate overdoses, and the person became responsive...(Cherokee Tribune)

(Ohio) Sheriff Rodney Smith said late last week that his deputies probably will soon undergo CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) training with local paramedics, as well as training for how to use the life-saving drug naloxone...(Athens News)

(Indiana) Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller doesn't want Hoosiers to turn to drugs at the first sign of pain. His concern comes amid an effort to increase awareness of abuse of prescription drugs...(NWI Times)

(New York) After a painfully slow start, government officials of all stripes have put a deeper focus on curbing the alarming rise of prescription drug and heroin abuse throughout communities...(Poughkeepsie Journal)

Each year, nearly 70,000 lives are claimed by opioid overdose, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported last week...(The Fix)

(Missouri) Officials with Preferred Family Healthcare in Quincy say abusers are turning to Missouri because it's the only state that doesn't have an electronic database that allows pharmacies to track prescriptions...(WGEM)

Researchers from Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals and the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that prescription opioids, including methadone, were involved in 67.8 percent of (or over 135,971 visits to) nationwide emergency department (ED) visits in 2010, with the highest proportion of opioid overdoses occurring in the South...(Medical Express)

(Delaware) Police responded shortly after 3 p.m. Oct. 24 to a home in the 100 block of London Road after a report of a drug overdose. First-responders used naloxone, a drug that blocks the effects of opiates, to reverse the man's overdose, according to police reports...(This Week News)

(New Jersey) A 30-year-old male, unresponsive from a drug overdose, was revived Saturday, Nov. 8, at his residence after two doses of Narcan were administered, police reported. The man was then transported to Cape Regional Medical Center in Cape May Court House for evaluation...(Press of Atlantic City)

(New Jersey) Just a week after the heroin overdose antidote Narcan was distributed to Mercer County police departments, Hamilton officers on Friday revived an unconscious man with the medication, authorities said Sunday..(Times of Trenton)

(New Hampshire)  20-year old Courtney Griffin overdosed on heroin and died on Sept. 29.  Her father, Doug Griffin, hosted the memorial to honor his daughter's life, and speak openly about heroin addiction.  He hoped his candor will help other addicts...(WMUR)

(Illinois) Heroin overdoses continue to take lives in the Stateline; there have been at least two dozen heroin related deaths in Winnebago County this year. One local group has kicked off an ongoing program to help families avoid losing a loved one to an overdose...(WIFR)

(Ohio) The Greater Victory Christian Ministries Church in Lorain was filled Sunday with prayers. But it was not a typical Sunday service. The church handed out Narcan kits during the service to the families and friends of heroin addicts. "This is about saving lives," said Pastor Timothy Williams...(News Net 5)