Jordan Jackson had big plans. At 25, he was living in Cody and working as a technician at Bear Co. Tire. He’d talked about rejoining his heavy metal band and maybe even moving to Billings to be with his new girlfriend.

CASPER, Wyo. – Wyoming recorded its highest number of drug overdoses since 2012, along with rising rates of mental health issues, as community leaders and stakeholders this week discussed ways to address what they dubbed the state’s “mental health crisis.”