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Arizona has opportunity to widen range of opioid addiction treatment
It’s too late for my brother, but there’s still time for countless other AHCCCS enrollees struggling with opioid addiction. They deserve the best possible chance of recovery. And their physicians are owed the broadest possible arsenal of medications to fight this battle.
Push to legalize needle exchanges in Arizona gets new life
Following strong support in the Legislature last year for legalizing needle exchanges, a Republican lawmaker is trying again to allow drug users to legally trade in their used needles.
Phoenix man starts effort to legalize all drugs
A Phoenix resident is seeking a public vote on a proposal to make Arizona the first state in the nation to effectively repeal all drug laws.
Health director: Alternative pain relief could help curb opioid abuse, deaths
Faced with an average of two deaths a day, the state's top health official is looking for ways to curb the abuse of opioids, both legal and otherwise. And some of that may involve getting doctors to find alternative relief for patients with chronic pain -- including possibly recommending the use of medical marijuana.
$3.6 million federal grant jump starts opioid awareness efforts in six counties
State officials said federal funding has helped jump start awareness campaigns and drug monitoring efforts to combat the prescription drug epidemic in six of Arizona’s 15 counties.
Hundreds of sober living homes in Prescott face new rules
Rep. Noel Campbell's House Bill 2107 in the 2016 legislative session aimed to raise the standard of care at sober living homes in Prescott. This time, it was a clean sweep through the Legislature.
Arizona would get $21 million to fight opioid abuse under White House plan
Police from around the country joined administration officials to call for immediate funding for opioid abuse treatment, as Congress haggled over the amount of funding that should be included to battle the epidemic.
Arpaio staffers tied to heroin smuggling ring out on bail
Two of three Maricopa County sheriff's employees implicated in a heroin smuggling ring have been released from custody after posting bail.
A failure to rehabilitate
Arizona spent $121 million on drug- and alcohol-treatment programs in 2008, but a report by the Arizona Auditor General’s Office indicates the programs have failed to change the behavior of most substance-abusing patients. Nearly half of the patients who began substance-abuse treatment during the past three years dropped out before finishing the programs.
