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SEPTA is testing a new way to help people struggling with addiction on the system

Darryl C. Murphy

May 26, 2021 |

WHYY |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A pilot program in Philadelphia’s transit system is providing social services for people struggling with addiction. Loitering violations in and around SEPTA stations are on the rise in the wake of the pandemic, spurring the city to reach out to those experiencing homelessness and addiction instead of solely policing the vulnerable populations. The project will be implemented in several other stations around the city as well.

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Overdose Lifeline, state providing a new hope the opioid crisis fight

Stephanie Wade

May 21, 2021 |

WRTV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Indiana

Indiana partnered with Overdose Lifeline to make the overdose reversal medication naloxone available via NaloxBoxes. The boxes, which are placed in neutral public areas that aren’t intimidating, hold several kits that each contain one dose of naloxone, instructions on how to use it, and referrals to treatment centers. The boxes make the drug available to anyone 24 hours a day without having to interact with someone. Removing the stigma of having to ask for naloxone makes it more accessible. The 60 boxes currently in use are in areas with the most overdoses and have been used hundreds of times.

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On Parole, Staying Free Means Staying Clean and Sober

Tammy La Gorce

May 14, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

People in two New Jersey counties who were at risk of abusing opioids while on parole were given extra support services, and an immediate trip to rehab instead of back to prison when they slipped up. The pilot program is New Jersey's version of Swift, Certain and Fair, a federally funded program to help people succeed while on parole. In some of the 30 states with SCF programs, copying the original and successful Hawaii model didn't work. But New Jersey's approach to helping people succeed instead of laying traps to send them back to prison was deemed a success with a small, focused pilot program.

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Drug treatment program is helping local inmates overcome addiction

Megan Sanctorum

May 06, 2021 |

WRTV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Columbus, Indiana

The Bartholomew County Jail's drug treatment program started in January 2020 with a rigorous application process, followed by about 400 hours of group and individual therapy for incarcarcerated people with drug abuse problems. The therapy attempts to unlock the reasons why each person's previous attempts to get healthy have failed. All but five of the 49 graduates so far have stayed out of jail and stayed in touch with the program, which helps them after their release with housing and job searches.

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Addiction treatment drug buprenorphine easier to prescribe under Biden

Dave Miller Allison Frost

May 04, 2021 |

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

Radio Talk Show |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Bupreneophine (also known as Suboxone) is a highly effective medication to treat opioid use disorder and addiction. It is life-saving, both in reducing the risk of fatal overdoses and helping people function better as they get treatment for their disorder. But prescribing and dispensing it is in many ways more highly regulated than the prescribing and dispensing of opioids themselves. A researcher who surveyed pharmacies found that many refuse to dispense the medication out of fear of regulatory sanctions or because of misplaced moral objections to medication-assisted treatment.

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Officers try to break stigma, offer help to drug users

Stephanie Casanova

April 29, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Police Department's Substance Use Resource Team reaches out on the streets to people with substance-use disorder, offering them treatment instead of arrest and jail. The team is an extension of the department's mental health support team and was started in response to the opioid epidemic. Officers talk to people they find on the streets, or follow up on 911 calls for overdoses. Not everyone accepts the offered help, and some end up arrested on warrants. But, at a time of rising overdose deaths, the officers and the peer support specialists who accompany them often can get people into treatment.

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Portland's Bybee Lakes Hope Center: A jail no more

Jim Redden

April 28, 2021 |

Portland Tribune |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Multnomah County sold its unused Wapato Jail to a developer whose nonprofit partner has used grants and donations to turn the former jail into Bybee Lakes Hope Center, a residential treatment program for unhoused people. After two weeks in temporary homeless-shelter status, people can opt to enroll in a three-month treatment program, something that 65% of them have agreed to do. That program combines sober living rules with job training and other services. Nearly 200 people have completed the program. The center is working on a large expansion project providing hundreds more beds.

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Restorative Justice in Indian Country

Michelle Chen

April 16, 2021 |

Dissent Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, Maine

Like standard drug courts, the Penobscot Nation's Healing to Wellness Court refers people facing drug-related criminal charges to substance abuse counseling as an alternative to punishment. But this court and other tribal wellness courts are steeped in indigenous customs, blended with restorative justice approaches, to emphasize rehabilitation based on trust, support, and native traditions. The threat of punishment looms over participants should they fail in their counseling program. But no one has been jailed in the past two years in the Penobscot program.

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Charlotte is taking a new approach to drug cases. It could change lives.

Devna Bose

April 13, 2021 |

The Charlotte Observer |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Mecklenburg County district attorney stopped prosecuting non-violent, low-level drug cases to free up resources to handle a backlog of more serious cases that built up during the pandemic. The policy had the effect of freeing people from the permanent stain of a criminal conviction and offering them drug treatment as an alternative to punishment.

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Translating Portugal's Approach to Drugs and Addiction

Elana Gordon

March 31, 2021 |

Undark |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Portugal

In the 20 years since Portugal decriminalized possession of personal amounts of all drugs, deaths from HIV and overdoses declined and more people take advantage of expanded drug treatment programs. Treating the country's addiction-related problems as a health concern rather than a crime has been embraced domestically and copied by other places, including most recently in the U.S. by Oregon. Portugal's experience serves in part as a cautionary tale about tailoring policies to local conditions and following through on ideals with clear, measurable approaches. Copying the program outright is not simple.

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