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A few lines in a Senate appropriations proposal could force U.S. officials to confront a deadly threat they ignored for years: Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced painkillers sold at pharmacies in Mexico. If approved, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken would have 90 days to draft a report that would — for the first time — reveal key details about overdoses caused by fake pills sold in Mexican drug stores. (Sheets and Blakinger, 11/2)

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued an executive order requiring school districts to notify parents of any drug overdoses in the school system within 24 hours after the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office announced that nine students at one school overdosed. The sheriff’s office said that nine students at Park View High School overdosed in October and early November. All of the overdoses were nonfatal and appeared to involve fentanyl. (Elwood and Jouvenal, 11/2)

On a mid-September night two years ago, three friends from Johnson County sat in front of their school laptops and connected through an online video chat program. From each of their homes, they took the drug they had purchased for 30 bucks a pill. Soon, one of them, a gregarious red-headed senior at Shawnee Mission East High School, began to rock back and forth. Her friends sensed she wasn’t feeling well. (Bauer and Thomas, 11/2)

A new report shows that death rates for people under 40 are surging across the United States, including parts of the Mountain West. In New Mexico, there were about 188 deaths per 100,000 people in that age group in 2022 – the highest rate in the nation, according to Stateline. The nonprofit news service analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Roedel, 11/2)

The five Massachusetts opioid treatment clinics where Ruth Potee works bend over backward to make methadone treatment easy and accessible for the people they serve. But Potee worries it isn’t enough. The clinics have doctors on hand 12 hours a day to start new patients on methadone, which is considered the gold standard for opioid use disorder treatment. (Hellmann, 11/2)

State officials are planning to distribute 50,000 prescription drug deactivation pouches as part of a $1.2 million federal campaign against drug misuse. The goal is to give people a convenient way to dispose of unused or expired opioids, or other prescription drugs, so they’re not misused and do not pollute the environment. (Dwyer, 11/2)

The babies are born with small heads, underdeveloped jawbones, conjoined toes and rounded, “rocker-bottom” feet. Physicians at Nemours Children’s Health say they all have one thing in common: They were exposed in utero to significant amounts of fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid. In a new study, the authors say they’ve identified 10 such babies so far, describing their constellation of symptoms as a “novel syndrome associated with prenatal fentanyl exposure.” (Avril and Whelan, 11/2)

Substance use disorder afflicts many Americans — in 2021, 46.3 million people in the United States age 12 or older were addicted to alcohol or drugs such as opioids and stimulants. Now scientists are studying a promising and surprisingly familiar therapy that can help reset the brain and stem the cravings of addiction. The treatment is low-intensity focused ultrasound or LIFU, a noninvasive brain stimulation therapy. Researchers at the University of Virginia are running the first pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound to treat cocaine use disorder. Nearby at the West Virginia University School of Medicine, ultrasound is being studied to primarily treat opioid use disorder, but also addiction to a number of substances including patient cravings for a number of substances, including alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine and cocaine. (Jones, 11/2)

It took 15 entries into rehab before the late actor Matthew Perry found long-term sobriety, he wrote in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” And after his death, loved ones and fans alike are honoring his commitment to recovery. (Holcombe, 11/2)