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A county judge Wednesday ordered immunity from prosecution for anyone who turns in heroin or other potentially deadly drugs after a stunning surge in overdoses in the Cincinnati area. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters asked for the blanket immunity, which he and Common Pleas Court Presiding Judge Robert Ruehlman agreed was unheard of locally, but needed to help get the drugs out of homes after what authorities say was a recent blitz of the city by sellers who mixed heroin with the extremely powerful animal tranquilizer, carfentanil. (Sewell, 9/7)

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a leading advocate for mental health and addiction treatment, joined providers, families that have struggled with drug abuse, and state officials Wednesday in Philadelphia for the first of six hearings around Pennsylvania on barriers to care. Kennedy, a Democrat from Rhode Island who has been public about his struggles with substance abuse, including prescription drugs, urged creating a registry for consumers to lodge complaints about problems accessing treatment, including insurance company denials, lack of availability or long waits for care, and other issues discussed at Wednesday's session. (Giordano, 9/8)

State Sen. Jeanie Forrester’s plan to use the National Guard to help fight New Hampshire’s drug crisis has been one of the most contentious issues so far in the Republican race for governor. But New Hampshire National Guard members have assisted local law enforcement and community organizations to keep drugs out of the state since long before hundreds of heroin and fentanyl overdoses started stacking up a few years ago. Starting in the 1990s, the federally funded National Guard Counterdrug Program has been working on investigations and community outreach across New Hampshire. (Nilsen, 9/7)