Opioids

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced a plan Tuesday to add 200 Missouri National Guard members and 22 state highway patrol troopers to the 250 guardsmen already deployed to southern border. Parson blames the Biden administration's border policies for the fentanyl crisis in Missouri.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Data points to a nearly 75% increase in overdoses in Missouri since 2019, and last year was the second consecutive year that fentanyl accounted for over two-thirds of overdoses in Missouri.

Republican state Sen. Holly Thompson of Scott City sponsored legislation to decriminalize the harm reduction tool. She hopes this will help lower opioid overdoses.

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.

Possession of fentanyl test strips will no longer be a crime in Kansas. The new state law also means pharmacies, online retailers and harm-reduction programs will be able to legally distribute the strips.