DRUGS

The Community Care Clinic in Springfield has clinicians, psychiatrists and social workers that speak English, Spanish, Arabic, Somali, Farsi, Amharic, Swahili, French and Portuguese.

With overdose deaths at a record high, Massachusetts is funding an overdose prevention hotline. People using drugs call a toll-free number. Staff monitor them and notify emergency responders if they stop responding.

Northampton already offered Narcan indoors in municipal buildings during business hours, but the new boxes will make the drug available around the clock.

The company that makes the spray is shipping out hundreds of thousands of doses to retailers starting Wednesday, marking the first time the drug will be available without a prescription at pharmacies nationwide and online.

Preliminary data shows there were 2,357 overdose deaths in 2022 in Massachusetts. Deaths among Black people who use drugs spiked — 42%.

All seven people Gov. Maura Healey is seeking pardons for were recommended for clemency by the Massachusetts Parole Board or conditional executive clemency by the Advisory Board of Pardons.

Massachusetts law says health care providers must contact child protective services any time a newborn has been exposed to opioids, including in-utero exposure to prescription medication used to treat an addiction to opioids. That can punish women in recovery, compelling some to stop treatment, according to a new study.

As Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey earned a reputation for being tough on opioid manufacturers. Now that she's in the state’s top job, some say they're still waiting to learn her plans for addressing the crisis.

In a county jail in western Massachusetts, like in others around the U.S., officials are encouraging music lessons. Incarcerated men and women are finding the payoff is evident while locked up, and — research shows — also when they're out.

Naloxone has been used to reverse thousands of opioid overdoses in Massachusetts every year. Now, some local advocates worry that a federal decision to make one brand, Narcan, available without a prescription could make the overdose reversal medication too expensive for some users.