Minnesota's Opioid Epidemic

Stories of addiction, loss and recovery amid a public health crisis that has hit epidemic proportions.
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Red Lake leader sets opioid crisis and land return as priorities for 2023
Red Lake Nation Chairman Darrell Seki Sr., said during his State of the Band address that one of the band's goals is to reestablish the original boundary of the reservation. He delivered the message as he laid out the tribal agenda for 2023. 
Minnesota opioid treatment clinics overwhelmed as needs rise, staffs shrink
Many of the state’s 16 opioid treatment programs are struggling to hire and retain licensed drug counselors as demand rises, but staff burnout is high. “We have people dying who are sitting on our waiting list, trying to get in,” one program director says.
Bloomington police seize 24 pounds of fentanyl pills
Bloomington police say they seized 24 pounds of the painkiller fentanyl from a man at a hotel in the city, in what they say is one of the largest fentanyl seizures in Minnesota.
Preventing fentanyl overdose deaths in Minnesota
Drug overdose deaths reached a record high in 2021, according to the CDC. And synthetic opioids like fentanyl were involved in about two-thirds of those deaths. On Thursday, MPR News guest host Chris Farrell discussed fentanyl in Minnesota and the work being done to prevent overdose deaths.
The DEA is warning of a rise in overdose deaths from fake drugs laced with fentanyl
In its first public safety alert in six years, the Drug Enforcement Administration says many counterfeit prescription drugs sold online contain a potentially lethal dose of the opioid.
Judge to decide: Was it 'unreasonable' to ship 81 million opioid pills to one small West Virginia city?
As a landmark federal opioid trial nears completion, West Virginia communities are demanding $2.5 billion in compensation. Drug firms say they acted responsibly in shipping millions of pills.
The attorney general said Minnesota's share could be as much as $337 million over 18 years, with significant payments frontloaded in the first five years. The spending will be overseen by Minnesota's Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council.