Drugs

Fentanyl is the leading cause of opioid deaths in the state, increasing five-fold in recent years.

Public health officials hope pharmacies will request the drug to have on their shelves. Austin and Travis County officials declared a public health crisis earlier this year after the county saw a record number of accidental overdoses in 2021.

Researchers will examine brain responses following treatment with psilocybin, a psychedelic derived from certain mushrooms, and 5-MeO-DMT, which comes from toad venom.

Abbott directed the Department of Public Safety to boost efforts to collect intelligence on cartels and investigate gangs in Texas that support drug and human smuggling.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is also joining the county's health department and other local law enforcement agencies as part of an overdose task force.

The National Institutes of Health annually surveys substance abuse among young adults in its Monitoring the Future study.

The county may declare a public health crisis and is looking into whether it can distribute the lifesaving drug naloxone. Harm-reduction advocates say they called for this type of action last year.

New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that synthetic opioid use is driving the overdose crisis in the U.S.

As opioid and other drug overdoses rise in the state, the researchers hope the program will provide a more complete understanding of the state’s overdose crisis and help guide solutions.

Tuesday's verdict comes as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart face thousands of lawsuits filed by communities across the U.S. The companies say they did nothing wrong dispensing huge quantities of opioids.