R.I. to Get Nearly $4M to Fight Drug Overdoses

Rhode Island is receiving nearly $1 million a year for the next four years to help combat drug overdoses.

The Providence Journal reports Gov. Gina Raimondo said in a release the state is losing too many people to overdoses. She says they must treat the overdose epidemic as a public health crisis and focus on treatment, recovery, and prevention.

Rhode Island joins 15 other states chosen to participate in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention for States Program.

Rhode Island will receive more than $3.75 million in all, supporting drug monitoring programs and educating providers and patients about the risk of overdoses. It will also go toward informing health systems, insurers and providers about prescribing pain medication.