Sarah Donald of Pearl, Miss., 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.

“The national conversation is just about warships in the Caribbean an

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