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Medication and Recovery: Doctors Say Access to Critical Addiction Care is Difficult in Appalachia

Taylor Sisk

October 21, 2021 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wise, Virginia

The Health Wagon provides medical care to those experiencing addiction. The Health Wagon also provides services for those in recovery, including medications, counseling, and peer support groups in an effort to reduce relapses and overdose deaths which have skyrocketed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Radical Shift in Drug Treatment Happening Inside California Prisons

Juan Moreno Haines

October 15, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

To combat opioid overdose deaths among incarcerated people, the California prison system in January 2020 launched a treatment program that combines medication-assisted treatment with professional and peer counseling. The program uses the three most effective medications to reduce opioid dependency. The one-year program features intense counseling, individual and group, based on a workbook that takes gender and trauma-related causes for drug abuse into account. Preliminary data show a decrease in deaths at San Quentin prison. More than 15,000 people have enrolled in the program.

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Progress amid the opioid epidemic: New Fall River fire station program seeing results

Meg McIntyre

October 02, 2021 |

The Herald News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Fall River, Massachusetts

Safe Stations, which operate out of local fire stations, provide a place for people struggling with opioid addiction to walk in and request help. They can be assessed for immediate health concerns, connected to a trained recovery coach and other mental health resources, and get help finding a bed in a detox facility or an inpatient treatment program.

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

Dariya Baiguzhiyeva

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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Opioid Crisis: Northern cities working toward supervised consumption sites

Frank Rupnik

August 31, 2021 |

Sudbury.com |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

Oasis is a supervised drug consumption site in Ottawa that reduces the risk of death from accidental overdose and reduces the spread of infectious diseases. In 2020, operating at reduced capacity because of COVID-19, the site had 18,500 visits with no fatalities reported. The site has five booths and distributes clean needles. After registering anonymously, users can spend up to 30 minutes in a booth with medical staff on site. They also have the option of moving to a post-injection space afterwards, which allows the staff more opportunities to connect with users and connect them to other services.

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

Taylor Sisk

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

Sydney Glenn

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

Hamdi Issawi

June 22, 2021 |

The Sprawl |

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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

Nathaniel Lee

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

Christopher Curtis

June 11, 2021 |

Ricochet |

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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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