(York) I once was a hater, too. It's been sadly interesting, to say the least, to read the social media postings on the various news outlets' Facebook pages in recent days in response to the coverage of the needle exchange program that is coming to York. Addict-haters, Naloxone-haters, people-with-no-willpower-haters and addiction-is-NOT-a-disease-believers came out of the woodwork...(Evening Sun)

(Schuylkill)...The topic of heroin and prescription opioid use had about 300 people at the Tamaqua Area Middle School on Wednesday. They were there to listen to guest speakers on how to help those dealing with addiction and help the community...(Republican Herald)

(Westmoreland)...A 45-minute performance of "Off-Script" by the Saltworks Theater Company on Wednesday was the first the DEA has staged in a local school as part of its 360 Strategy to address drug abuse in the region...(TribLive)

(Franklin) Concerned members from the community came out to Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library to learn how to save a life Monday evening as Healthy Communities Partnership presented their first Operation Save a Life training...(Record Herald)

(Northampton) The day after Bethlehem police officers hit the street with a drug that can reverse the deadly effects of heroin and other opiates, a call came in about a possible drug overdose victim...(Morning Call)

(Lancaster)...We hope the police department continues this aid-first, jail-second method, and we continue to support the county's Anti-Heroin Task Force, which combines the efforts of law enforcement, local hospitals, educators and politicians to combat the heroin crisis in Lancaster County...(Lancaster Online)

(Statewide) Passing a budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year is essential - and as quickly as possible - to address opioid addiction in Pennsylvania, said Department of Human Services Secretary Ted Dallas...(Newsworks)

(Philadelphia)...The fatal overdose, which shook the La Salle community, is part of a troubling trend among college-age youth across the country. Over the past decade, heroin use among 18-to-25- year-olds has more than doubled nationwide..(Newsworks)

(Monroe)...It was a little more than six years ago when Kelter's life began to spin out of control and into a downward spiral that started with legally prescribed medicine, before continuing with the use of much harder drugs...(Pocono Record)

(National) Student pharmacists from across the country and a clinical professor of pharmacy were honored recently for their outstanding efforts in preventing prescription medication misuse...(PR Newswire)

(National)...A look at the statistics explains this tone of urgency. In the decade following Dr Campbell's speech, sales of prescription opioids in the United States quadrupled. And rates of overdose, death rates, and substance abuse treatment admissions spiraled in tandem..(Medscape)

(Massachusetts) When the Boston police opioid squad responds to a heroin overdose, officers follow standard procedure: Interview witnesses, collect evidence, start hunting down the dealer. Then, investigators go a step further. They talk to stricken friends and family members and suggest support groups and help hot lines...(Boston Globe)

(Indiana) The Indiana State Department of Health has received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help prevent overdose deaths related to prescription opioids as part of the CDC's Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States program...(WBIW)

(National) One of the most useful early predictors of fentanyl overdose deaths is the rate of fentanyl confiscations by law enforcement, according to epidemiologists speaking at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta this week. The fast-growing overdose problem attributed to illicit fentanyl in some areas is outpacing heroin and prescription opioids...(Behavioral Healthcare)

(National)...One of the widest gaps is in our corrections system. People are dying from overdoses in significant numbers shortly after they're released, we know that. But they're also dying within weeks of being arrested...(Huffington Post)

(National) kal�o, a privately-held pharmaceutical company, today announced that EVZIO� (naloxone HCl injection) Auto-injectors have been reported to help save more than 1000 lives...(PR Newswire)

(National) President Obama addressed the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin summit in Atlanta Tuesday, calling further attention to the drug epidemic in America just two weeks after the Centers for Disease Control issued new recommendations on limited the use of narcotic painkillers...(TIME)

(California) A tainted version of the prescription opiate Norco being sold of the streets of Sacramento County has led to dozens of overdoses and at least six deaths in less than a week, county health officials said Tuesday...(LA Times)

(West Virginia)...Her story, as told by her father that evening, had a more profound impact than she could have imagined. Since that day, whenever Obama has privately discussed the heroin and opioid epidemic with lawmakers, advisers or other White House visitors, the conversation drifted back to the Grubb family...(Huffington Post)

(Massachusetts) The state's hospitals are being inundated with cases of opiate overdoses. Emergency room visits have almost doubled in the past few years. But now, there's a new weapon: Recovery Coaches. As soon as the patient has been stabilized, the "coach" is there to guide them to treatment...(CBS Local)

(Ohio)...Like other departments throughout Sandusky County, Fremont police are dealing with what's become a two-to-three-year surge in heroin abuse and related crimes, including a steep rise in burglaries, robberies and home invasions by addicts desperate to find money for their addictions...(News-Messenger)

(California) When it comes to administering the life-saving drug that can reverse a heroin overdose, San Francisco industrial designer Jonathan Grossman saw a "user experience" problem that needed to be solved...(SF Chronicle)

(Canada)...There are calls among community leaders to make concerted efforts to help children and youths coping with trauma. And there are efforts underway to steer young people away from lifestyles that lead to violence and tragedy...(Calgary Herald)

(Canada) One drug in Canada is off the prescription list, and many are happy. This may save more lives from a possibly lethal opioid overdose...(Tech Times)