The Minnesota Senate has approved the House File 400, the Opioid Stewardship Fund bill.

The Opioid Detection Challenge, a $1.55 million USD global prize competition, has been launched by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

A study from investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Institute for Technology Assessment projects that the opioid overdose epidemic in the U.S. is likely to increase in coming years.

For the first time in U.S. history, a person is more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than from a motor vehicle crash, according to National Safety Council analysis.

Fentanyl is the most commonly used drug involved in drug overdoses, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

One in five deaths among adults aged 25-34 is due to opioid-related causes, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The analysis of 2017 data suggests shifting patterns of drug use, with cocaine and amphetamines positivity surging in some areas of the county and marijuana positivity rising sharply in states with newer recreational use statutes. Prescription opiate positivity rates declined dramatically on a national basis.

The Homeland Security Department needs thousands of additional port officers to help stymie the flow of illicit opioids into the country.