Fentanyl

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and state lawmakers gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for the unveiling of the Drug Chemistry and Toxicology units.

Only the person who has overdosed and the person who calls for help are shielded from most prosecutions for substance possession. Sometimes even those people find themselves in legal jeopardy. A new bill would provide protection for everyone at a scene from arrest and from prosecution for nonviolent offenses.

The decision could make the life-saving drug more accessible. Emergent BioSolutions, the drug company that produces Narcan, said it anticipates it will be on store shelves by late summer.

An increase in drug overdose deaths is prompting new legislation to target people who sell fentanyl and other opioids.

North Carolina saw record highs in opioid overdose hospitalizations and deaths in 2022.

Prosecutors said Poteat worked as a contract nurse at a Winston-Salem hospital from July to November 2020 and had access to a machine that stored vials of injectable hydromorphone, an opioid derived from morphine.

This is North Carolina Survivor's Union. It's a place where people with substance use disorder can come for help. The strategy here is all about harm reduction. It meets people where they are and its strategies aim to decrease the negative consequences of recreational drug use without requiring abstinence.