New Mexico
CDC: New Mexico ranks sixth in the country for fatal overdoses
New data from the Centers for Disease Control shows just how bad drug addiction is in New Mexico. Every year, on average, more than 1,000 New Mexicans die from drug overdoses.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New data from the Centers for Disease Control shows just how bad drug addiction is in New Mexico. Every year, on average, more than 1,000 New Mexicans die from drug overdoses.
It’s a problem that Dr. James Besante, with the Santa Fe Recovery Center, says especially impacts our rural communities.
“Our rural communities are disproportionately hit because there’s an enormous issue that’s growing and few avenues of treatment,” Dr. Besante said.
According to the CDC, New Mexico ranks sixth nationally for the most fatal overdoses. Dr. Besante says it isn’t just an opioid crisis anymore.
“We are somewhere in the fourth wave of this crisis that’s always evolving. Most now consider it a polysubstance overdose crisis. When individuals overdose now, there are multiple substances in their system, often times strong, synthetic opioids accompanied with stimulants like methamphetamines,” he added.
Based on that data, overdoses may not be our state’s only health emergency.
“New Mexico ranks high in many negative health indicators, not just overdoses,” Dr. Besante said.
He added unemployment and poverty levels rurally are among the highest contributing factors to health issues facing our state. That is why he says clinics are vital.
“There’s often times long waits to access care, and that is difficult. Because when someone’s ready for change, it’s important to meet that person where they’re at. And it’s one of the reasons we offer services that are in line with harm reduction principles,” Dr. Besante said.
Our reputation for a lack of resources is also getting national attention. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is premiering a recovery documentary in Albuquerque this Saturday.
Dr. Besante only hopes our lawmakers can put more resources in our state but especially our rural communities where he’s seen firsthand the difference they make.
“I recently was working with a client who’s now three years into recovery. She just graduated from college, and she’s taking her two children and their entire family on a vacation to Disneyland,” he said.
The documentary “Recovering America” will debut this Saturday at the Kiva Auditorium in Albuquerque. The event starts at 2 p.m. and will have a panel discussion afterward.
If you’d like to learn more about how to attend the premiere in Albuquerque, click here.
After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.
It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.
Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.
Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:
- Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
- Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
- New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).
What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.
That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.
With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.
New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.
But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.
Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.
What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.
Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility
SANTA FE, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) – The New Mexico Department of Health says it will continue to recommend the full schedule of childhood vaccines.
State officials announced the move Tuesday, directly defying a new federal policy that scaled back routine immunization guidance.
The announcement comes after U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS), under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., reduced the number of vaccines it recommends for all children.
The New Mexico Department of Health stated the federal changes were “not based on new scientific evidence or safety data.”
“New Mexico will not follow the federal government in walking away from decades of proven public health practice,” said Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. “Our recommendations remain unchanged.”
State health officials sought to reassure parents, emphasizing that vaccines remain widely available and covered by insurance.
“We know this is confusing for parents, but the science is clear: vaccines are safe, effective, and save children’s lives,” said Dr. Miranda Durham, chief medical officer for NMDOH.
All childhood vaccinations will continue to be covered under programs like Medicaid and the federal Vaccines for Children Program.
The state encourages parents to consult their healthcare providers using the American Academy of Pediatrics’ immunization schedule.
RECOMMENDED: CDC cuts childhood vaccine list, sparking healthcare professionals’ concerns
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