Stay up to date with WRAL’s Opioids news and reporting coverage
Raleigh police arrested mother Vinus Humphreys and her boyfriend Tyrone Bannerman on felony child abuse charges after her twin 22-month-old children were exposed to fentanyl inside their apartment.
A look at how North Carolina members of Congress voted during the previous week.
Targeted News Service
North Carolina is working to end the stigma related to substance abuse disorder.
North Carolina's first lady, Anna Stein, is spearheading a new initiative, Unshame North Carolina, to dismantle the stigma surrounding substance abuse disorder and promote treatment for opioid addiction.
Attorneys general support a $7.4 billion settlement with drugmaker Purdue Pharma. The settlement, if approved, would resolve allegations over the company's role in the opioid crisis.
WRAL News staff
Edgecombe County paramedics are on high alert about carfentanil, a new highly potent synthetic opioid recently found in local pressed pill samples. Detected in April, the presence of carfentanil--though only comprising two percent of the pills--poses a significant overdose risk.
A Wake County detention officer has been arrested and charged with trafficking, selling and providing drugs to inmates.
A recent study by North Carolina State University exposes a critical shortfall in opioid treatment availability within the state's residential facilities.
Unlicensed drug treatment facilities in North Carolina refusing to provide lifesaving medication. WRAL Investigates how these facilities can deny critical care while collecting millions in your your tax dollars.
Naloxone is now widely carried by first responders and police. Distribution efforts have also helped make the medication available to community partners.
Grace Hayba, WRAL Health reporter
Naloxone - or Narcan - which reverses the effects of an overdose is coming to every Wake County school this year. WRAL Investigates' Grace Hayba explains how it works to fight back against fentanyl.
Overdose deaths is a widespread problem North Carolinians have been struggling to combat in recent years.
Grace Hayba, WRAL health reporter
Fentanyl overdose slows respiration, depriving the brain of oxygen. Nalozone blocks opioid receptors in the brain to reverse the effects of an overdose.
There are roughly 11 drug overdose deaths every day in North Carolina. WRAL Investigates what makes fentanyl so deadly, and the science behind a fast-acting drug that is saving lives. Plus a local teen's fast action helped to save a life... "If we weren't there, he probably would've died."
William Brown, a single father in his 40s, overcame his opioid addiction and went back to college after a series of run-ins with the law. He credits his recovery to UNC REACH, a medical clinic that offers a variety of services.
The research study, which started this spring, is observing select Bicycle Health patients who have opted in for monitoring during their first two weeks of treatment, which is often the most vulnerable and critical time in a patient’s recovery journey.
Tianeptine is used in other countries as an antidepressant. It's currently unregulated in the U.S., but a bill moving forward at the North Carolina General Assembly would make it an illegal drug on par with cocaine, opioids and methamphetamine.
Will Doran, WRAL state government reporter
State Rep. Wayne Sasser, a pharmacist by trade and a sponsor of the bill, said he wants North Carolinians to know about medications such as Narcan that are now available over-the-counter.
Paul Specht, WRAL state government reporter
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Caudill Labs are receiving thousands of street drug samples, running them through a machine to get a real-time look at what's in them.
Since 2021, the lab has tested about 5,600 samples, identifying more than 270 different substances.
Ali Ingersoll, WRAL investigative data reporter
The new policy allows school employees to be trained to administer the life-saving medicine, but the school system still needs to secure funding to have the drug on-site.
Emily Walkenhorst, WRAL education reporter
The Wake County School Board is set to consider a proposal that would designate specific people on school campuses to be trained in administering naloxone.
The Wake County School Board is set to consider a proposal that would designate specific people on school campuses to be trained in administering naloxone in the event of an overdose emergency. However, it does not guarantee the availability of naloxone in every school.
Destinee Patterson, WRAL reporter
While the opioid crisis continues to grip communities and hundreds of thousands of people die annually, research shows that millions are also finding recovery.
Ali Ingersoll, WRAL Investigative Data Journalist
