Legislature stepped up to help with mental health care

Nationally, 33,000 Americans died in 2015 from an opioid overdose — that’s close to the number of casualties caused by car accidents. Montana has seen a 475 percent increase in heroin found during arrests since 2013, and meth usage is rising again. Patients who struggle with substance abuse and mental illnesses rely heavily on mental health care, often to survive. In 2015, Montana had the third highest suicide rate in the nation. Based on Montana DPHHS information, 65 percent of suicides between January 2014 and March 2016 had multiple substances in the body (such as opioids and alcohol...