The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy named a veterinary tranquilizer an “emerging threat” for humans when mixed with the opioid fentanyl, but pharmacists say they've been warning for years about irreversible overdose and extreme morbidity risks associated with xylazine.
Jeff Breedlove with the Georgia Council for Recovery called the bill “delayed, not dead” and says the group will continue to work toward its passage next session.
The city of Atlanta and six metro area counties filed a federal lawsuit this week in the U.S. District Court of North Georgia seeking compensatory and punitive damages against drug companies and pharmacies related to their role in the opioid crisis.
Representatives from 40 organizations that make up the Substance Use Disorder Policy Partnership met with lawmakers at the Capitol to advocate for more resources for substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery.
The 2022 unified vision for transforming mental health and substance use care in Georgia is part of a multiyear legislative process. Last year, they called for better access to mental health care as the state tackled effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, the group is asking for more funding of behavioral health programs that have proven effective.
Residents in rural South Georgia are adamantly fighting a zoning request — a faith-based nonprofit called Redeemed Living wants to build cabins for men in addiction recovery on 23 acres of local farmland. But the neighbors don’t want them living next door.
Calls to 988 will be answered by counselors trained in suicide prevention. Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities says the state has invested about $20.5 million in 988 related expenditures over the past 20 months.
The Fulton County Jail is called Georgia’s largest de facto mental health facility because of the high prevalence of mentally ill detainees. Often, they have no place else to go until a crime is committed.
Between early February and mid-March, at least 66 emergency department visits in Georgia involved the use of cocaine, methamphetamine, crack, heroin, pain killers and cannabis products that were likely laced with fentanyl, which is 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin. Experts worry about increased risk of overdose when users believe that the pills are legitimate pharmaceutical products.
Legislation to bar future lawsuits against the companies involved in a $26 billion multi-state settlement must be passed before the state can collect $636 million dollars. The money will help pay for preventing and addressing the effects of opioid dependence.
Even when mental health is covered, providers of behavioral health services can be tough to find. And there are not always enough of them to treat rising pandemic-related anxiety or depression.
The deadline to sign up for a health plan on the marketplace is Jan. 15.
The BOOST Grants Program provides three-year grants, renewed annually, to community-based and statewide organizations that operate comprehensive out-of-school time programming year-round, over the summer months or after school during the academic year.
Parity in health care means substance misuse treatment and heart defects should be treated the same way by insurance companies. A federal parity law passed in 2008, but there is no mechanism to ensure parity is enforced in Georgia. A plan presented Nov. 10 at the state Capitol seeks to change that.
