Eighteen people lost their lives on North Carolina highways riding bicycles last year. This week on the Down East Journal, we talk about new laws that took affect October 1st that aim to curb the number of crashes. Plus, addiction to opioids like heroine is a nationwide epidemic hitting eastern North Carolina hard. The latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control have four eastern counties with drug overdose rates above the state average. A recent study from a major, healthcare provider put multiple eastern cities in the top 25 nationwide for the rate of opioid abusers.