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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.
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Native Americans in Kansas can often face barriers when seeking help for their recovery. A Wichita group is hoping to change that.
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Missouri, which earned the infamous nickname of "meth capital of America," played a key role in the drug's spread across the country. A new podcast tells that story.
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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.
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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.
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Millions of dollars have flowed into the state of Kansas from opioid settlement funds, which are supposed to go to treatment and prevention. So why are police getting a lot of that money? Plus: A Kansas City musician who turned his grief over his parents' deaths into art.
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The state of Kansas expects to receive more than $340 million over the next 18 years from opioid settlement funds. Much of that has gone to state and local law enforcement agencies, despite criticism about how they've handled drug enforcement.
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Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan, offers an over-the-counter medication that rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdoses. Despite efforts to make it more widely available, high prices mean Kansas City doesn't have enough doses for the people who need it most.
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Missouri's prescription drug monitoring database went online last week. Health workers will now need to enter patient information into a statewide database when they dispense opioids and other controlled substances.
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Vending machines have become one of the latest tools in the fight against the opioid crisis. In the Kansas City area, the machines will soon be found in Johnson, Wyandotte and Douglas counties.
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Johnson County is adding two specialty courts that will focus on treating underlying conditions that may have contributed to criminal behavior, with the hope of reducing recidivism.
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Both Kansas and Missouri have seen the number of overdose deaths attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl increase dramatically in the last several years. The U.S.'s drug czar urged people to carry Naloxone to counteract opioid overdoses in a visit to the Midwest last week.