(Washington) Every police officer in Canonsburg is now armed with Narcan, a medication that can save someone's life if he or she is overdosing on heroin...(WPXI)

(Statewide) The Departments of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) and Health (DOH) today issued a joint statement about the Pennsylvania Coroner's Association report issued yesterday on Overdose Death Statistics for 2014...(PR Newswire)

(Statewide) At least seven Pennsylvanians die each day from drug-related causes, a report released Wednesday shows. Overall, there were 2,489 drug-related deaths statewide in 2014, said the report by the Pennsylvania State Coroners Association. Philadelphia, Allegheny, Bucks, Delaware and York counties recorded the most fatal incidents...(TribLive)

(Dauphin County, Pennsylvania) Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick knows Natalie's family. He often talks about the poem, holding it up as vivid, heartbreaking proof of how heroin addiction can snare even the most talented and promising. The Pennsylvania State Coroners Association report, where the poem begins on page two, states "Natalie, May You Rest in Peace."...(PennLive)

(Statewide)...Rep. Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin) announced the findings Wednesday afternoon. According to a report from the non-profit Pennsylvania Coroners' Association, at least 2,489  people died in the state as a result of drug overdoses last year, which is an increase of about 20 percent from 2013. County coroners and medical examiners reported that most of those deaths were cause by heroin and prescription painkillers...(Fox 43)

(Statewide) County coroners across Pennsylvania logged nearly 2,500 drug overdose deaths in 2014, an increase of about 20 percent, according to a report released Wednesday...(PennLive)

(Chester) Emergency medical responders and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) across Pennsylvania have access to the life-saving, anti-overdose drug Naloxone months early thanks to the work of state Senator Andy Dinniman and Good Fellowship Ambulance...(Daily Local News)

(Westmoreland) Before a rapt audience of several hundred onlookers, two individuals in recovery from drug addiction, known only as "Samantha B." and "Danny L.," each detailed their personal struggles as part of "Prescription Drugs in Your Community - Get the Truth," a public drug abuse forum held recently at the site...(TribLive)

(Blair) Governor Wolf's budget proposal calls for drug and alcohol programs across the state to receive $5 million to fight heroin and opioid abuse. Funding still has to be approved by state lawmakers and signed by the governor, but local drug and alcohol programs are ready to put it to use...(Central PA)

(Montgomery) Close to 900 pounds of unused medication were turned in two weeks ago when the county held its drug take-back program on April 25 at a number of police stations across the county, according to a press release sent out Monday...(Times Herald)

(Statewide) It is partnering with local, state and federal agencies on numerous initiatives, such as take-back programs to dispose of unused medications, training to prevent the diversion of prescription drugs into the illegal market, informing medical professionals about opioid prescription guidelines, tracking the deployment of the anti-overdose drug naloxone and attempting to collect overdose death data from Pennsylvania's 67 counties...(Post-Gazette)

(Westmoreland) A court for drug cases in Westmoreland County is expected to begin as early as next month as officials Tuesday said that $210,000 will be allocated to begin the special jail diversionary program designed to help stem the increasing number of fatal overdoses...(TribLive)

(Armstrong)...Twenty-eight overdoses, 12 resulting in deaths, have been reported since early January. Five of the deaths were from heroin overdoses. In the most recent three, the heroin was laced with Fentanyl - a deadly combination that has been linked to several deaths in the region outside of Armstrong County...(TribLive)

(Statewide) As part of Governor Wolf's proposed 2015-16 budget, the Department of Human Services (DHS) announced today that it is seeking proposals for two pilot programs to provide additional services to address heroin and opioid addiction...(PR Newswire)

(Massachusetts) Starting in June, police in the city of Gloucester, Massachusetts, will no longer arrest opioid users who come to them seeking help-even if they walk into the station carrying drugs. Gloucester police chief Leonard Campanello announced the policy in a Facebook post on Monday, writing that he and his department "are poised to make revolutionary changes in the way we treat this disease."..(VICE)

(Northampton County, Pennsylvania)...In October 2013, she discovered him in the basement of their home after Cody accidentally overdosed on prescription pills. He spent five days on life support and was finally declared brain dead. When doctors determined there was no hope of recovery, his family honored Cody's wish to become an organ donor...(CBS News)

(New Jersey) Borough police responded to the same address twice within three hours late Wednesday night for drug overdose victims, thus marking the second and third Narcan revivals in Pitman since the first one less than a month ago...(NJ)

(Alabama) Would you pay $44 to save someone's life? That's the cost of one naloxone hydrochloride kit that can be used to reverse the effects of a potentially fatal heroin or opioid overdose...(Alabama)

(Ohio)..."Promise to Hope" is a new program being launched by Premier Health  in conjunction with Samaritan Behavioral Health , Turning Point and the ADAMHS board. It is aimed at treating pregnant addicts to protect and improve the quality of life for the mothers and their babies...(Daton Daily News)

(Michigan) Angelo and King's shared loss has now become a shared mission to help other families struggling with these same issues. The two mothers have now organized a new chapter of Families Against Narcotics in southwestern Michigan. The group is designed to provide support for families who have loved ones who are addicted or have died from overdoses...(Fox 17)

(New Hampshire)...Several of the women work at Friendly's in Dover and were joined by children and grandchildren holding signs that read; "make the choice to live," "honk if you hate heroin," "Somersworth cares, heroin kills, you can stop," "using or selling, please stop."...(Fosters)

(Massachusetts)...In one of several Foxboro initiatives aimed at saving lives and reducing the stigma associated with addiction, Susan Carreiro-Penacho, the regional director of Habit OPCO, a multi-state treatment network, offered a chilling picture of the rise in fatal overdoses in Norfolk County...(Sun Chronicle)

(North Carolina) When North Carolina legislators passed the "911 Good Samaritan Law" in 2013, they gave people who called 911 after witnessing a drug overdose immunity from minor drug possession and underage drinking charges...(Star News)

(National) The number of babies born in the U.S. with opioid addiction, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), has nearly doubled in a four-year period. By 2012, one infant was born every 25 minutes with the syndrome, according to a new study by researchers at Vanderbilt University...(PsychCentral)

(Kentucky) Kentuckians should adopt an open mind toward medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, which incorporates physician-prescribed medicines, such as buprenorphine and naltrexone, into treatment plans that also include counseling and medical care...(Kentucky)

(New Hampshire) If state leaders don't take steps now to address the opioid epidemic, New Hampshire could be looking at as many as 1,000 drug overdose deaths a year, Tym Rourke told lawmakers last week...(Union Leader)

(Vermont) Recent news reports of heroin-related overdoses, some leading to death, are spurring concerns in Vermont communities that fentanyl is present in some of the heroin being sold locally...(The Eagle)

(New Jersey) For the first time in years, overdose deaths are down in the state of New Jersey.  Acting New Jersey State attorney general John Hoffman says 2014 was a turning point...(Newsworks)

(Nevada) Nevada Assembly members have approved a bill backed by Gov. Brian Sandoval that would increase access to drugs that can help reverse a potentially deadly heroin or painkiller overdose...(Gazette-Journal)

(Ohio) A record number of Ohio residents died from heroin-related overdoses in 2013, the state Department of Health said Thursday as it released the newest available figures for a problem that's been called an epidemic and a public health crisis...(Monroe News)