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  • Opioid Crisis: Naloxone kits 'saving a life today, changing it for tomorrow'

    August 31, 2021 |

    Sudbury.com |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Timmins, Ontario

    Paramedics with Cochrane District Emergency Medical Services distribute naloxone kits and provide education wherever they are. From coffee shops to their emergency calls on the street, paramedics distribute 20 to 40 naloxone nasal spray kits a month to people dealing with addiction as well as their families and friends. Each ambulance stocks the kits and display stickers that let the public know they are available. They’ve begun offering refill kits that just restock the naloxone itself. An electronic code allows the Cochrane EMS to track how many kits are given out and to provide quality assurance.

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  • ‘Know Your Script' initiative shows success in fight against opioid epidemic

    July 08, 2021 |

    KSTU-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Utah

    Intermountain Healthcare implemented an opioid reduction plan as part of Utah’s statewide ‘Know Your Script’ initiative. The plan, which includes an opioid-free surgery program that utilizes nerve blockers and non-opioid pain medications, has led to 11 million fewer opioid prescriptions. While not all surgeries can be performed this way, it has given recovering addicts a treatment alternative. The healthcare system also educates medical staff on ways to reduce opioid prescriptions and empowers patients to tell their providers that they do not want opioids.

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  • In Southwest Virginia, Reestablishing a Rural Hospital System Requires Rebuilding Trust

    July 08, 2021 |

    100 Days in Appalachia |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Virginia

    When two hospital systems merged to create Ballad Health, agreements ensured all hospitals would stay open for at least five years and essential services in each of the rural and poorly served counties would be maintained. Enforceable price controls lowered patient costs and, in an effort to rebuild community trust and improve overall health, $308 million was committed to community-based care. The community health programs are based on the missions of organizations like Health Wagon, which serves its rural patients by forming personal relationships, being easily accessible, and understanding their needs.

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  • ‘It liberated me': The fight for Calgary's supervised drug-use site

    June 22, 2021 |

    The Sprawl |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Calgary, Alberta

    In less than three and a half years, Safeworks, the only supervised drug-use site in Calgary, saved thousands of people from opioid-overdose deaths and helped users for whom abstinence-based treatment didn't work. The government of Alberta deemed the site a scene of "chaos" and ordered it closed once two new sites open. Safeworks supporters oppose the disruption in harm-reduction work that move would bring, considering how critical personal relationships built on trust are to this kind of service.

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  • Why U.S. Presidents Can't Win The War On Drugs

    June 17, 2021 |

    CNBC |

    Broadcast TV News |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States

    Fifty years on, America's war on drugs has failed at its principal goals: to eradicate illicit drug use and sales, to repair communities damaged by the drug trade, and to prevent drug-related deaths. Despite massive amounts spent on law enforcement, which has created great social harms and fueled incarceration, drug use has rebounded to 40-year highs, drug overdose deaths are peaking, and supply of illegal drugs is abundant. Policy advocates say a combination of legalization and public-health approaches to the problems would accomplish more than the wasteful, ineffective "war" mentality used to date.

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  • Drug testing takes off in the Laurentians — even dealers are doing it

    June 11, 2021 |

    Ricochet |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Canada, St-Jérôme, Quebec

    To reduce overdose deaths from the increasing number of deadly substances found in street drugs, Centre SIDA Amitié uses lab testing to help understand exactly what drugs users are putting in their bodies and how to slow the spread of deadly drugs. They distribute testing kits to hundreds of people every year, analyze urine samples, have handed out 12,189 naloxone doses, and trained over 1,000 people to administer the drug. Staff works directly with clients in communities that don’t have access to many resources, also helping them navigate court proceedings, find housing, and get into rehab if interested.

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  • Overdose Lifeline, state providing a new hope the opioid crisis fight

    May 21, 2021 |

    WRTV-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Indiana

    Indiana partnered with Overdose Lifeline to make the overdose reversal medication naloxone available via NaloxBoxes. The boxes, which are placed in neutral public areas that aren’t intimidating, hold several kits that each contain one dose of naloxone, instructions on how to use it, and referrals to treatment centers. The boxes make the drug available to anyone 24 hours a day without having to interact with someone. Removing the stigma of having to ask for naloxone makes it more accessible. The 60 boxes currently in use are in areas with the most overdoses and have been used hundreds of times.

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  • On Parole, Staying Free Means Staying Clean and Sober

    May 14, 2021 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New Jersey

    People in two New Jersey counties who were at risk of abusing opioids while on parole were given extra support services, and an immediate trip to rehab instead of back to prison when they slipped up. The pilot program is New Jersey's version of Swift, Certain and Fair, a federally funded program to help people succeed while on parole. In some of the 30 states with SCF programs, copying the original and successful Hawaii model didn't work. But New Jersey's approach to helping people succeed instead of laying traps to send them back to prison was deemed a success with a small, focused pilot program.

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  • Addiction treatment drug buprenorphine easier to prescribe under Biden

    May 04, 2021 |

    Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

    Radio Talk Show |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States

    Bupreneophine (also known as Suboxone) is a highly effective medication to treat opioid use disorder and addiction. It is life-saving, both in reducing the risk of fatal overdoses and helping people function better as they get treatment for their disorder. But prescribing and dispensing it is in many ways more highly regulated than the prescribing and dispensing of opioids themselves. A researcher who surveyed pharmacies found that many refuse to dispense the medication out of fear of regulatory sanctions or because of misplaced moral objections to medication-assisted treatment.

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  • Translating Portugal's Approach to Drugs and Addiction

    March 31, 2021 |

    Undark |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Portugal

    In the 20 years since Portugal decriminalized possession of personal amounts of all drugs, deaths from HIV and overdoses declined and more people take advantage of expanded drug treatment programs. Treating the country's addiction-related problems as a health concern rather than a crime has been embraced domestically and copied by other places, including most recently in the U.S. by Oregon. Portugal's experience serves in part as a cautionary tale about tailoring policies to local conditions and following through on ideals with clear, measurable approaches. Copying the program outright is not simple.

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