Addiction

One model made a big difference in Iceland, where the percentage of teens who got drunk at least once a month dropped from 45 percent to just 5 percent.

After the most isolating days of the pandemic, overdose death rates are improving.

West Virginia filmmaker Tijah Bumgarner is creating two projects that depict the experiences of women in recovery through film. Both are inspired by the life of Ashley Ellis, who passed away last November due to substance use disorder.

Senate Bill 419, sponsored by Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, will change up how addiction treatment centers are paid. Providers that offer the absolute best care and support to clients, will get paid more than others that don’t offer as much, or at least that’s the intent.

On this West Virginia Morning, the state is looking at a new way to encourage addiction treatment providers to do better, based on how stable and sober their clients are months or even years after initial treatment. We take a closer look at this initiative.

On this West Virginia Morning, we speak with a professor of musicology at West Virginia University who is also the editor of a book called, “The Opioid Epidemic and U.S. Culture: Expression, Art, and Politics in an Age of Addiction.” The book collects 23 essays by academics, artists, and activists about how art and the opioid epidemic overlap.

Nicholas County was the latest to celebrate the first graduation ceremony from its family treatment court program, which works to reunite parents and children separated by addiction.

OxyContin’s maker may be bankrupt, but it’s spent more than $200,000 to keep 20-year-old court records sealed.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we talk with folks who are planting seeds of change — literally and figuratively. While many are finding joy through their gardens and food work, there are some people in Appalachia who are going through some of the most challenging times of their lives.

West Virginia consistently has one of the worst rates of drug overdose deaths in the nation, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that toll has only been increasing in recent years. The West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy released a report on the economic toll of drug-related deaths and illnesses on the state. The center estimates that in 2019, that amount was more than $11 billion.