HEALTH & JUSTICE IN THE NEWS
Date: March 22, 2018
TASC in the News
140+ Organizations Send Letter in Support of ONDCP Programs
Addiction Policy Forum, 3/15/18
More than 140 organizations [including TASC] have sent a letter to Senate and House Appropriations Leadership in support of key addiction programs belonging to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Click to read the full text of the letter.
Around the Nation
Trump pushes death penalty as opioid crisis response
Reuters, 3/19/18
President Donald Trump, targeting the U.S. opioid epidemic, called again on Monday for execution for drug dealing, a proposal that so far has gained little support in Congress, amid criticism from some drug use and criminal justice experts At an event in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump unveiled the plan, including his death penalty recommendation and one for tougher sentencing laws for selling drug. The new White House plan will also seek to cut opioid prescriptions by a third over the next three years by changing federal healthcare programs, White House officials said. The White House did not offer examples of when it would be appropriate to seek the death penalty and referred further questions to the Justice Department.
AP Fact Check: Trump exaggerates pros of anti-opioid ideas
Associated Press, 3/20/18
President Donald Trump has laid out a new plan for tackling the deadly opioid epidemic that has ravaged communities across the nation. But some of the president's proposals have proven ineffective in the past.
Naloxone: What you need to know about this lifesaving drug
ABC News, 3/21/18
One of the goals of the newly announced White House anti-opioid program is to ensure first responders are supplied with naloxone, commonly known by one of the brands named Narcan. Naloxone is a medication that quickly reverses an opioid overdose. Opioid drugs such as heroin or prescription pain medications bind to brain receptors; in an overdose, the severe opioid effect slows breathing so much that death follows. Naloxone acts by competing with the opioid for those brain receptors, binding them and displacing the opioid. It will not stop overdoses from other kinds of drugs.
Around Illinois
Illinois Primary Election Results
Illinois held its primary election on Tuesday, March 20. The 2018 general election will be held on November 6.
Opioid deaths continue to rise in DuPage County
Chicago Tribune | Naperville Sun, 3/21/18
Opioid use does not discriminate based on any demographic, a federal health official told DuPage County and state officials Wednesday. Eric Hargan, deputy secretary for the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, grew up in a rural town downstate, where he said drug issues have become "worrisome." Officials said a similar crisis is unfolding in DuPage County as the number of opioid-related deaths has gone from 33 in 2014 to 95 in 2017. Hargan, Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti and local officials gathered at the DuPage County Coroner's office Wednesday for a round table discussion of scope of the local opioid abuse problem and efforts to mitigate it, particularly the county's Naloxone program.
Research, Reports, and Studies
Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost Sharing Policies as of January 2018: Findings from a 50-State Survey
Kaiser Family Foundation, 3/21/18
This 16th annual 50-state survey provides data on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility, enrollment, renewal and cost sharing policies as of January 2018. It takes stock of how the programs have evolved as the fifth year of implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) begins, discusses policy changes made during 2017, and looks ahead to issues that may affect state policies moving forward. It is based on a survey of state Medicaid and CHIP officials conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.
New data clearly illustrate the poverty-to-prison pipeline
Quartz, 3/22/18
In the US, boys born into poor households often end up in prison as adults. Boys born into rich ones almost never do. This is the eye-opening finding of a recently released analysis by the Brookings Institution. The report finds that boys born into households in the bottom 10% of earners are 20 times more likely to be in prison on a given day in their early 30s than children born into the top 10%. The research is based on a first-of-its-kind dataset linking people incarcerated from 2009 to 2013 to data on their parents' earnings reported to the Internal Revenue Service.
Identifying 'designer' drugs taken by overdose patients
ScienceDaily, 3/19/18
Drug overdoses are taking a huge toll on public health, with potent synthetic drugs posing a particular threat. Medical professionals are scrambling to meet the growing demand for emergency room treatment, but they're hampered by the lack of a quick and easy test to screen patients for these "designer" drugs. Chemists have now developed such a test and are refining it with the hope that hospitals could eventually use it to choose the appropriate treatment.
Health & Justice in the News
is a summary of recent news stories relating to criminal justice, mental health, addiction, recovery, and related issues. It is compiled and published by TASC each Monday and Thursday.
Some headlines and text have been altered by TASC for clarity or emphasis, or to minimize discriminatory or stigmatizing language. Opinions in the articles and op-eds do not necessarily express the views of TASC or our staff or partners.
