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Drugs, overdose, hope: Nevada

In the state of Nevada the number of drug related deaths is still increasing compared to falling numbers in the rest of the US.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from drug overdose since the opioid crisis began in the US more than two decades ago. It鈥檚 fentanyl, a potent, synthetic opioid, mass produced in Mexico, that drove the increasing number of deaths. Now narcotics-related fatalities have fallen overall in the US. But that doesn鈥檛 mean fewer people are dying everywhere. In Nevada, those mortality statistics have continued to increase. Linda Pressly visits Las Vegas and Reno to find out why this desert state is bucking the trend.

Producers: Linda Pressly and Tim Mansel

(Photo: Debris at the mouth of a storm drain that runs under the city of Las Vegas. Thousands of people live in the drains, many of them people with substance abuse issues. Credit: Tim Mansel)

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27 minutes

Last on

Sun 26 Oct 2025 23:32GMT

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