With two weeks left before the end of Maryland’s 2017 legislative session, lawmakers are rushing to pass a package of bills aimed at combating the heroin and opioid epidemic that a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll shows is touching about one-third of state residents. The proposals, many of which have merged in recent weeks, focus on prevention, treatment, law enforcement, insurance coverage and public awareness. Increasingly, users unwittingly take heroin mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is more powerful. But the state’s medical society resisted the rule, saying it wasn’t practical and left physicians too few options. poll showed the governor’s approval rating on the issue has increased 12 points since last year, rising to 47 percent.

Source: Washington Post March 26, 2017 18:01 UTC