Pills falling out of a bottle
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State Launches “Empowering Faith Leaders in California Substance Use Prevention and Intervention” Project

ByOD Free Marin

SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has launched the Empowering Faith Leaders in California project, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation’s Global Initiative’s Overdose Response Network, and is investing in hospital emergency departments to continue to assist Californians in need of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and mental health treatment services. The…

San Francisco Buildings and blue sky
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Inside San Francisco’s ‘poison pipeline’ – ground zero of California’s deadly fentanyl epidemic

ByOD Free Marin

Rozina Sabur | The Telegraph Rizzy Spoer began using drugs aged 12. Growing up in San Francisco’s Bay Area, she enjoyed experimenting with as many illicit substances as she could. It got to a point, she said, where she was “probably going to die”. In her experience, her story isn’t “uncommon”. Now aged 34, she…

Narcan
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Over-the-counter sales of Narcan to begin this week

ByOD Free Marin

By Lindsey Theis The purple pinwheel in Michelle Leopold’s front yard symbolizes overdose awareness. She’s a “tough mother” fighting against fentanyl. Her first-born son Trevor died when he was only 18 years old in his dorm room, after taking what he believed to be an oxycodone pill that was, unbeknownst to him, laced with fentanyl. Leopold…

Greenbrae parents Michelle and Jeff Leopold remember their son Trevor
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The Fentanyl Crisis – how it affected Greenbrae parents Michelle and Jeff Leopold

ByOD Free Marin

by Dan Pine / excerpted from JWeekly The parents of Greenbrae teen Trevor Leopold said their son resisted help when it came to drug use. Michelle and Jeff Leopold watched helplessly as Trevor became a habitual cannabis user two years after his bar mitzvah at Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael. The drug caused violent…

Prescription Pill Bottle

The Medical Board of California publishes new guidelines on prescribing opioids for pain

ByOD Free Marin

California Medical Association The Medical Board of California recently published a long-awaited update to its opioid prescribing guidelines, which will make it easier for patients to get the care they need while maintaining appropriate safeguards. Importantly, the medical board has clarified that the guidelines are not intended to replace a physician’s clinical judgment and individualized, patient-centered…

6 out of 10 deadly pills illustration
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Marin Voice: New campaign tackles county’s fentanyl crisis

ByOD Free Marin

By Matt Willis and Vikki Garrod Every five to six days we lose a Marin resident to an accidental overdose. This is more than twice the rate of five years ago. The primary driver? Fentanyl. The public health crisis of overdose in Marin demands urgent action and community-wide strategies. We learned from our COVID-19 response…

vials of xylazine
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Deaths from xylazine are on the rise. The White House has a new plan to tackle it

ByOD Free Marin

Deepa Shivaram | NPR The White House is marshaling a new plan to try to beef up testing, tracking and treatment for street drugs laced with xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that has contributed to a surge of overdose deaths across the country. The administration listed xylazine combined with fentanyl as an emerging threat back in…

Adult Chocolate Labrador Retriever
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Dog’s life saved with Narcan in Marin County

ByOD Free Marin

KRON 4 | Rob Nesbitt In a first for the Marin Humane Society, an animal services officer in Marin County saved a dog’s life using Narcan. The dog’s owner called 911 when the animal collapsed in a mall parking lot after discovering that their prescription medication bottle had been chewed through minutes before. At the…

Colyn giving Narcan presentation
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Now recruiting AmeriCorps VISTAs to support overdose prevention in California

ByOD Free Marin

Do you want to be being part of the movement to eliminate overdose deaths in California? The Center for Health Leadership and Practice (CHLP) at the Public Health Institute is actively recruiting AmeriCorps VISTA members to serve with the California Overdose Prevention Network (COPN), a network of coalitions, organizations, and individuals working at the forefront…