addiction

As the Kansas City Council considers an ordinance to ban all flavored tobacco products from store shelves, health experts say it could save lives. Business owners worry about what it would mean to their sales.

Missouri will become the latest state to vote on legalizing sports betting this November. Researchers from the University of Kansas fear sports betting could have a negative impact on Missouri families' finances, and increase gambling addiction.

Missouri Republicans campaigning for lieutenant governor in the August primary are making it one of the year's most crowded races, including two state senators, an attorney, a county clerk and a businessman.

The Kansas Department of Corrections is using opioid settlement funds to pay for a program aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths. Opioids like fentanyl are a major driver of rapidly rising overdose deaths in Kansas.

Opioid settlement payouts will be made to thousands of communities across the country over 18 years. Payouts in the Kansas City metropolitan area so far have ranged from $2.4 million to Kansas City, Missouri, to Kansas City to $4,500 to Westwood, Kansas.

Native Americans in Kansas can often face barriers when seeking help for their recovery. A Wichita group is hoping to change that.

EMS workers across Missouri are receiving training on how to give overdose victims a dose of buprenorphine, which manages cravings and withdrawal symptoms, after reviving them from an overdose with the overdose reversal drug naloxone.

Substance abuse contributes to around 13% of Kansas children entering foster care. Now, Kansas is testing a new Family Treatment Court in rural counties that will help parents complete addiction treatment and reunite with their kids.

Legal sports betting in Kansas came with mobile casinos that offer easy access to place wagers online. Experts say that also comes with a higher risk of addiction.

When Kansas lawmakers legalized sports betting, they seemingly gave lobbyists for casinos everything they wanted. That includes tax exemptions on promotional bets that are aimed at getting bettors hooked.

In 2021, more than 2,600 people died of a reported drug overdose in Kansas and Missouri. A Kansas City peer support group is bringing together friends and families who have lost loved ones to substance abuse and addiction.

KFF Health News obtained documents showing the exact dollar amounts — down to the cent — that local governments have been paid in 2022 and 2023 in lawsuit settlements from the opioid crisis. For Missouri, that's $458 million.