State of Emergency: Searching for Solutions to Pennsylvania’s Opioids Crisis

Pennsylvania is at the epicenter of the deadliest drug epidemic in American history.

In 2016, more than 2,200 Pennsylvanians died of opioid overdoses, the fourth highest rate in the United States, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Opioid deaths made up about half of all drug overdoses in the state that year.

The death toll from opioids abuse has climbed so high that the governor’s office this year issued an emergency declaration. That designation calls for increased coordination and tracking of the work of health and safety agencies dealing with the public health emergency.

Newsrooms across the commonwealth have spent years documenting the crisis in their own communities. But now, in the special project State of Emergency: Searching for Solutions to Pennsylvania’s Opioids Crisis, we are combining resources to spotlight what Pennsylvanians are doing to try to reverse the soaring number of overdose deaths. Newspapers, websites, TV and radio stations covering more than 50 counties are part of the endeavor.

WITF will be releasing those partners’ stories, videos, photos and audio features throughout the month.

This project covers a range of communities, from rural areas to the state’s largest cities, as well as different topics associated with the opioid crisis. WITF has grouped these features by content and will be releasing posts daily according to this schedule:

• Week of July 1: Initial response and how addition affects families
• Week of July 9: Police, courts and treatment
• Week of July 16: Facilities and recovery
• Week of July 22: Education, prevention and community support
• Week of July 30: Changing the trend