A new report out this week shows Massachusetts could be moving in the right direction when it comes to battling the opioid epidemic. For the first time since 2010, the state says there were fewer opioid-related deaths during the first half of the year compared to the same period the prior year. Still, the numbers are well above the national average and at least 978 people died of overdoses between January and June. A separate analysis from the Department of Public Health also found that non-fatal overdoses rose by roughly 200 percent from 2011 to 2015. Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel and Jared Owen, a recovering addict and now, the communications coordinator at the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, joined Adam Reilly to discuss how much progress has been made and what still needs to be done.
