Sarah Donald of Pearl, Mississippi, left, who has been in recovery for nine years, receives naloxone nasal spray from an organizer at the state’s Save a Life Day in September. Overdose awareness is continuing to save lives, but overdoses and deaths have spiked in some areas this year. (Photo by Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today)
Illicit drug overdoses and the deaths they cause are trending down this year, despite spikes in a handful of states, according to a Stateline analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A handful of places with rising overdoses are responding to the problem with cooperation, they say, by sharing information about overdose surges and distributing emergency medication…