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This month's roundup covers new efforts to fight addiction at both the state and federal level. Louisiana's Project M.O.M. targets opioid overdose deaths in pregnancy, and the newly signed SUPPORT Act expands funding for prevention, treatment, and recovery nationwide. Locally, Magnolia Belle Women's Addiction Wellness has opened a new residential program in Louisiana, while health officials are tracking a new synthetic opioid spreading through the north of the state. Elsewhere, researchers are watching a shift toward smoking as fentanyl's primary method of use, states continue debating how to regulate kratom, and LSU coach Lane Kiffin's public account of his own recovery drew national attention this spring.
SOURCE: Houma Courier-Thibodaux Daily Comet
From Jan. 5: The Louisiana Department of Health has launched Project M.O.M., an initiative aimed at reducing pregnancy-associated opioid overdose deaths and protecting infants from loss or foster care placement.
SOURCE: KFF
From Jan. 5: In 2024, over 61 million adults in the U.S. experienced a mental illness and deaths due to suicide, gun violence and drug overdose remained high. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and necessary public health responses exacerbated an already existing mental health and substance use crises.
SOURCE: U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy
From Jan. 5: U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) held an event to celebrate President Donald Trump signing into law his SUPPORT Act, which bolsters prevention, treatment and recovery services for Americans with substance use disorders and mental illness. The event also honored angel families who lost loved ones to fentanyl and was hosted by the Southeast Louisiana branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
SOURCE: The Associated Press
From Feb. 9: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that his department will devote $100 million toward a pilot program addressing homelessness and substance abuse in eight cities, building on an executive order President Donald Trump signed related to addiction.
SOURCE: The Enquirer
From Jan. 19: Magnolia Belle Women's Addiction Wellness proudly announces its opening, expanding access to women's addiction treatment in Louisiana through a program designed exclusively to serve women seeking recovery from substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions. Magnolia Belle opens with a clear commitment to clinical excellence, privacy and compassionate care, offering a thoughtfully structured environment where women can begin meaningful, lasting healing.
SOURCE: Psychology Today
From June 1: For much of modern psychiatry, the brain has been treated indirectly with medications altering neurotransmitters — serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine — under the assumption that downstream effects will rebalance mood or drug cravings. Operating apart from dysfunction in the brain's circuits, this approach has produced meaningful advances.
SOURCE: Streamline
From May 25: The high-octane world of collegiate football rarely pauses for personal confession, but Louisiana State University head coach Lane Kiffin has shattered that silence. In a stark revelation, Kiffin detailed how a hidden battle with alcohol dependency catalyzed the collapse of his marriage in 2016 and nearly derailed a multi-million dollar coaching trajectory.
SOURCE: KSLA-TV
From May 11: On April 28, the North Louisiana Crime Lab reported the spread of a new, highly concerning drug in northern Louisiana. It is a synthetic opioid, and the drug belongs to a class of synthetic opioids known as "orphines." Recent lab testing has confirmed that cychlorphine has been detected across multiple jurisdictions in north Louisiana.
SOURCE: STAT News
From Feb. 16: Megan Merrill paused, mid-hike, as she surveyed the steep drop before her. She was standing on a five-foot snow drift, icy and brittle after 10 days of unrelenting New England cold, below which lay the railroad tracks that serve as a de facto border between the town behind her and the homeless encampment in front.
SOURCE: News From The States
From Jan. 5: State lawmakers have taken the lead on regulating kratom. The controversial herbal supplement is often used for pain relief, anxiety and opioid withdrawal symptoms. Last summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pushed to ban 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as 7-OH, saying it posed serious health risks and should be classified as a controlled substance with heroin and LSD.