opioids

New Mexico U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez and Sen. Martin Heinrich visited the state’s border with Mexico Monday to highlight policies to stem the flow of fentanyl into the country.

Access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction is limited in New Mexico, but particularly in rural communities. The Santa Fe Recovery Center is hoping to change that in northwest New Mexico’s McKinley County with the help of a sizable federal grant.

New Mexico’s senior U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich is leading a bipartisan call for the Drug Enforcement Administration to make the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine more accessible. In a letter to the agency this week, the group of senators argue the DEA needs to be more transparent about its policies.

The drug is most commonly paired with fentanyl, and healthcare workers say overdoses related to the combination are more complicated to treat.

People in New Mexico state prisons are unable to access medication for addiction treatment unless they’re pregnant— even if they had been on medication before being incarcerated or were transferred from a handful of county jails that provide it. A new state law is going to change that.

State prisons are required under the U.S. Constitution to provide “adequate medical care” to those they incarcerate. However, prisons in New Mexico and 16 other states do not provide inmates with medication for opioid addiction, and neither do most of its county jails. Advocates are calling on lawmakers to expand this treatment in New Mexico lockups in the upcoming legislative session.

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Hundreds of New Mexicans die from opioid overdoses every year. A new law went into effect this summer that requires patients who are getting prescriptions…

An overdose-reversing medication has become an important tool in preventing opioid deaths. But it’s not as available in Albuquerque as it is in other…

Opioid addiction comes with more than just physical symptoms. A big part of fighting for sobriety is recovering emotionally, and for different people,…