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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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Vending machines have become one of the latest tools in the fight against the opioid crisis. Kansas residents can access the naloxone, a medicine designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, by simply inputting their ZIP codes on the machine’s keypad.
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Two local U.S. representatives — Republican Mark Alford and Democrat Emanuel Cleaver — hope to address the fentanyl crisis in Missouri and around the country.
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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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Two Missouri senators have filed legislation that would remove the state's remaining restrictions on providing food benefits to those convicted of felony drug offenses. Missouri's rules comprise "one of the nation’s most stringent bans for receiving SNAP benefits."
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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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Sociology professor and author Alex Vitale, who is set to speak at the UMKC Cockefair Lecture on Tuesday, is calling for the end of policing as we know it. He contends that instead of directly addressing problems like gun violence and drug addiction with effective policy, the U.S. relies on police to "manage" the results.
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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.