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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Opioid overdose deaths drop in Missouri, but rural areas fight stigmas, barriers to care
Narcan dispensing boxes are becoming more common across Missouri. Medicines like Narcan, also known as naloxone, help fight opioid overdose deaths, but officials say more investment is needed to treat addiction (Suzanne King/The Beacon). After years of exponential growth, opioid overdose deaths in Missouri are dropping. While health care workers, community groups and other officials say many factors may contribute to the drop in opioid overdose deaths, they agree that access to overdose-reversing drugs like naloxone, often provided under the brand name Narcan, is saving lives. 'I do think that Narcan is the reason for those trends statistically dropping,' said Cooper County Ambulance Chief Brandon Hicks. 'I see Narcan in a lot more homes than I used to, and I do see family members administering Narcan prior to us getting there.' In 2014, the state saw 360 opioid overdose deaths from drugs other than heroin. By 2021, that figure rose to 1,493, state data shows. After increasing through 2021, the trend started changing. The number of deaths flattened in 2022 and began dropping in 2023. By 2024, non-heroin opioid overdose deaths had fallen to 876. Central Missouri and the St. Louis area saw the largest drop in drug overdose deaths, dropping 38% and 35%, respectively. But after responding to opioid overdose calls for years, Hicks sees the need for more access to treatment and better coordination between emergency services and long-term care, especially in rural areas. That belief is shared across community health organizations. Access to things like peer support specialists and community resources is an essential piece of the puzzle, according to Derek Wilson, who runs harm reduction at the AIDS Project of the Ozarks, which serves 29 counties in southwest Missouri. 'I think there is a particular bit of challenge when you come up against some of these societal things,' Wilson said. 'When you get into a more rural area … there's a ton of stigma. There's still a lot of shaming, whether it's self-shaming or from outside sources.' Wilson hopes that a continued focus on naloxone distribution, coupled with community support and more access to medication-assisted long-term treatment, can continue making inroads in rural communities. In 2016, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration began a new grant program for states to receive federal funds for addiction treatment, recovery and harm reduction services. The federal money and state settlement dollars from opioid litigation allowed Missouri to increase investment in addiction treatment and overdose prevention. Early funds were mostly used to support treatment efforts. But as the response evolved, the state began investing more heavily in distributing naloxone across the state. From 2017 to 2023, the Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH) distributed nearly 430,000 naloxone kits across the state. In 2023 alone, nearly 250,000 kits were given out, including more kits shipped off to local health departments, social services and first responders, according to a report from researchers at MIMH. In their report, researchers connect the drop in overdose deaths with the availability of naloxone across the state. But other rural health researchers think more time is needed to truly understand the drop in deaths. 'It's encouraging, but I don't think we know exactly why it's changed,' said Kelly Price, a rural addiction researcher in Vermont. 'It'll be interesting to see how it plays out over time … It does sometimes seem like it takes a little bit longer to see those effects that you see nationally in some of these more isolated rural communities.' MIMH researchers also pointed to the westward movement of fentanyl across the country. Data show that eastern parts of the country see lower levels of fentanyl-related deaths, while they are rising in western parts of the country. Hicks sees the need for better data collection for health officials to truly understand the trends, especially in smaller counties where funds for autopsies may not align with death rates. He pointed to the prevalence of opioid-related cardiac events. 'We just did a community health assessment,' Hicks said. 'We identified that there's really not been any opioid deaths in Cooper County for quite some time. The problem is that they're getting ruled cardiac arrest.' 'At the end of the day this is a true statement, their heart stopped,' he added. 'When it comes to pulling statistics, nobody sees the opioid deaths that we do have.' If someone's heart stops as a result of an overdose, naloxone won't revive them without chest compressions. Researchers at the American Heart Association found that of the 360,000 cardiac arrests from 2017 to 2021, 8% were caused by drug overdoses. Part of the problem in collecting that data, Hicks said, was funding for autopsies. If the county only budgets for a certain number of autopsies, it can be difficult to determine whether a death was related to drugs in other ways besides an overdose. 'I have one gentleman that I have (used Narcan on) three times that's been in cardiac arrest, and after the third time, he literally told me: 'See, I can do whatever I want. You're going to be here to save me,'' Hicks said. 'We can't save somebody who is dead, and they can't save themselves either. But if they get Narcan before we get there, usually they refuse care.' But Stephanie Malita, a health educator at the St. Joseph Health Department, says peer support specialists who are active in the area report that the number of overdoses someone experiences isn't relevant to their recovery outcomes. 'Peers will say time and time again that some of them overdosed multiple times,' Malita said. 'But eventually they got to the point in their lives where they were ready and had a support team around them to make that very scary leap into non-use.' Studies show that despite Good Samaritan laws, which offer legal protection for people who are witnessing or experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose, skepticism remains when it comes to calling first responders in the event of an overdose. Missouri's Good Samaritan law provides immunity from things like possession of controlled and synthetic substances or paraphernalia, as long as someone is actively seeking medical assistance. It also requires law enforcement to provide treatment resources. It does not protect against other crimes like distributing a controlled substance or active warrants. Hicks regularly runs into that fear when he responds to overdose calls. If 911 is called, the person overdosing often has already gotten a dose of naloxone, and law enforcement almost always arrives at the scene before EMS. 'People don't want law enforcement, they feel like they've done something wrong,' Hicks said. 'So we usually encounter somebody who is angry and upset … because they're scared of getting arrested. They didn't want to go to jail, they just wanted to live.' He and his staff take extra steps to differentiate themselves from law enforcement when responding to overdose calls. They don't wear button-up shirts or badges to try and make people feel more comfortable. 'I appreciate law enforcement,' Hicks said. 'But I don't want to be associated with them in these scenarios, because then I can't help somebody like we're supposed to help them.' Wilson and the AIDS Project of the Ozarks are working on ways to make naloxone more available across their coverage area. The group places drop boxes with naloxone kits in places like libraries and other public settings, so it is available to the community 24/7. To find where to access free naloxone, click here. It's an investment that Malita and the health department, which was one of the top county recipients for naloxone kits from the MIMH, are looking at making as they continue naloxone outreach. But more attention is needed when it comes to connecting naloxone recipients with longer-term addiction care. Things like distance to a provider, income, transportation and child care are often cited as roadblocks for rural patients seeking care. Hicks said he hopes to see more investment in things like transportation to crisis centers. He also pointed to integrating 911 and 988, the national suicide and crisis hotline, as a way to ensure Missourians are getting the care they need. 'The emergency room is just not the place for a lot of people in these situations,' Hicks said. 'More mental health support (is needed), not a physician that tells them to go seek care elsewhere once they've fixed a very temporary problem.' Price pointed to data that shows starting people on medication-assisted treatment, including buprenorphine or naltrexone, after an overdose and then connecting them with a long-term provider has been shown to be an effective approach. Things like expanded access to telehealth, where people can meet with providers in the privacy of their own homes, can also help people in smaller communities seek care in ways that are more fitting for them. Wilson said reducing stigma so everyone feels comfortable seeking care is a priority. 'I do think it is something that is thicker in rural areas, the idea of not wanting to get into it, and: 'Why don't those people just go take care of themselves? Why don't they stop?'' Wilson said. 'It's just not that simple, not with the way that substances interfere with our brain chemistry.' 'It's just a human being and things get away from them,' Wilson said. 'Then they find themselves in very, very horrible situations.' This article first appeared on Beacon: Missouri and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
More big checks from Des Moines' Big Grove Brewery
DES MOINES, Iowa — In less than three years on Ingersoll Avenue, Big Grove Brewery has already developed a reputation as a very generous neighbor. 'I almost walked right down the street and shook somebody's hand!' said Amy Landrigan, the executive director of The Beacon — a nearby charity dedicated to helping women in crisis. On Wednesday, Big Grove made The Beacon one of two recipients of its annual Big Grove for Good grants. 'First of all, it's right in our backyard in the Sherman Hill neighborhood,' said Lindsey Rawson-Van Wyk, Big Grove's community coordinator at its Des Moines location. 'We can literally walk there, they can walk to us, so that felt like a great way to support literally our neighbors.' Selected from a pool of applicants, The Beacon and Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice each got $8,000 checks from the newly formed Big Grove For Good foundation. The Beacon says that money will go a long way. Greenfield resident uncertain about rebuilding after tornado 'It costs $26 a day at a minimum to provide services to the women at The Beacon,' Landrigan said, 'so that $8,000 divided by 26, we can provide for that many women for that many days this year. That's just huge for us.' As a woman who originally came to The Beacon as a client, Marlena Hemphill can attest to all the good this money can do. 'When you're in that situation where life is coming down hard on you and you don't know which way to turn,' she said, 'it just feels amazing to know that you're supported by people who don't even know you.' Rawson-Van Wyk says this annual event has become one of her favorite parts of her job. 'Making those phone calls each year to the recipients honestly still brings tears to my eyes,' she smiled. 'Even though we're in our third year of doing it.' Big Grove is a brewery … and some of the women at The Beacon are struggling with sobriety and substance abuse. Landrigan says Big Grove made a special effort to bridge the gap. 'They've created a line of mocktails,' she said. 'That may not sound like a big deal, but we knew they had us in mind and we really appreciated that.' Big Grove has written grants to seven Des Moines non-profits so far, with all of the money coming straight off their bottom line. It's an effort that has not gone unnoticed. 'They don't just want to be another bar and another restaurant,' said Landrigan. 'They want to truly invest in their neighborhood.' Metro News: Downtown ride honors nearly 400 Iowa cyclists injured, killed in last year More big checks from Des Moines' Big Grove Brewery Homeowner describes how his family escaped burning home that left 3 dead Iowa man accused of fatally neglecting dog and 'dumping' its body to hide crime Names of victims in deadly Des Moines house fire released Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Man donates Second World War air raid bell to West Cumbrian town crier
A MAN has donated a historic bell to the Whitehaven town crier. Tom Roberts had read in The Whitehaven News about Marc Goodwin, the town crier, breaking his bell, and has decided to donate one to him. The crier's bell came unstuck at Muncaster Castle when Marc swung it with vigour, and the clanger flew off into the crowd. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and Marc thinks he knows what was behind it. He said: "It was Tom fool, I'm sure of it. Muncaster's legendary jester would have loved that, and I'm sure his ghost had some influence on the day." Tom Roberts has now given a Second World War air raid bell to Marc on loan. The bell dates back to 1939. Marc has used it in his most recent shout about The Beacon's pop-up exhibition of the lost pubs of Whitehaven. Louise Savage from the Town Crier committee said: "It was a really lovely gesture by Tom, and I'm just keeping fingers and toes crossed that Marc cuts down on his Weetabix while using the replacement bell." For more information about the town crier or to contact him, follow his Facebook page.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
USDA Canceled Funding to Help Source Produce for Schools
This article was originally published in The Beacon. In 2020 and 2021, the COVID pandemic exposed weaknesses in the United States' supply chain for key items in American households. The Biden administration spent millions of dollars through the U.S. Department of Agriculture on new programs that helped farmers sell their produce to local schools, create produce boxes for households and provide more direct food access to their communities. The Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) programs provided incentives for schools and community organizations to buy food from local farmers. They allowed states to create contracts with farmers so schools could purchase their foods and gave farmers the promise of a guaranteed sale when harvest time arrived. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Now, with rocky trade partnerships and tariffs looming, President Donald Trump's administration has slashed the remaining money for the programs, leaving farmers across the country heading into their growing season unsure who will buy their produce. 'We really figured out how to get local farm product into community spaces under LFS and LFPA,' said Thomas Smith, the chief business officer at the Kansas City Food Hub, a cooperative of farmers near the Kansas City area. 'We were making our whole organization around meeting those new needs, because we believe in the government's promise that they believe in local food.' The Trump administration canceled about $660 million in funding for the programs that was to be paid out over the next few years. Through the programs so far, USDA has paid out more than $900 million to states and other recipients. KC Food Hub took on the challenge of helping farmers, school districts and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education work together to streamline the processes under the Biden-era programs. It was almost an instant success. In 2024, the cooperative brokered more than $500,000 in sales for small farmers in the Kansas City region — more than the group had seen in its first five years of operation. KC Food Hub hoped that the new partnerships would continue putting money back into farmers' pockets and was aiming for over $1 million in sales for the farmers they represent. Now, they're huddling with school districts across Kansas and Missouri to try and keep some of the contracts alive in the absence of the federal money. The local food programs were an extra pillar of support for small farmers across the country. USDA data show that since 1980, the number of farms across the U.S. has decreased from about 2.5 million to 1.88 million in 2024. Part of that struggle, Smith said, is like many small-business owners, farmers are forced to take on many different roles. 'What they really want to be doing is farming, knowing their soil, knowing their land,' Smith said. 'But because there is no distributor like the Food Hub in most communities, they have to be business people, too. They have to be in the board meetings, meetings with school administrators. And that just puts so much stress onto the food system.' Over the years, as small farms have dwindled and larger operations have consolidated agricultural production in the United States, the middle market and distributors like the Food Hub have phased out. When it comes to large-scale distributors, there are plenty of places a farmer could turn to sell their products. But the return for that farmer when selling to a large distributor is much lower. 'You get pennies on the dollar,' Smith said. 'No respect to your work, no respect for your worth.' There are other USDA programs that dedicate money to states through their nutrition assistance programs and set aside funds for seniors and low-income families to buy produce from local farmers. Studies show ripple effects through local economies when higher quantities of local food are purchased. A 2010 study found that for every dollar spent on local food products, there is between 32 cents and 90 cents in additional local economic activity. For Mike Pearl, a legacy farmer in Parkville, the programs pushed him to expand faster than he'd planned. Now, without the guarantee of those contracts, he's scaling back his production plan for the year. 'If you think about it, it was an early game changer,' Pearl said. 'We were able to, for the first time … grow on a contracted basis for a fair price for the farmer, in a way that we never would have been able to do before.' That encouraged Pearl to increase production and begin making upgrades before he felt completely ready to do so, he told The Beacon. New equipment, growing more produce and hiring more staff were all side effects of the local food purchasing agreements. 'I'm not sure that a lot of vegetable farmers were actually ready for it,' Pearl said. 'I wasn't prepared for it. But we made some changes to grow a bit more and do as much as we can on a short runway. We were set up for a perfect storm.' Anything extra Pearl produces will be donated, as his farm is one of the largest donors of food in the Kansas City area. But other farmers are left with questions about what will happen with their crops — and their revenue. It raises a question of trust that Maile Auterson has encountered throughout her life as a fourth-generation farmer in the Ozarks and the founder of Springfield Community Gardens, which facilitates local produce boxes and the LFS programs in the Springfield, Joplin and Rolla areas. 'We promised the farmers,' Auterson said. 'The biggest insult to us is that we cannot follow through on the promises we made to the farmers that we had made with that money.' The area her group serves was set to get $3 million in federal funds over the next three years. While Auterson is trying to fulfill some of those contracts, the trust that small farmers were building with the government through the program has been severed, she said. 'We talked the farmers into participating and scaling up specifically for this program,' Auterson said. 'Then when we can't follow through, the government has done what they were afraid the government would do, which would be to not look out for the small farmer. It's a terrible moral injury to all of us.' Smith said the Food Hub is in talks with its participating school districts — including Lee's Summit, Blue Springs and Shawnee Mission — to continue their purchasing agreements even without the federal funds. So far, even with the funding cancellation, 95% of 2024's produce sales are set to be maintained through this year, Smith said. 'As small farmers, they can't meet the streamlined industrial agriculture price points, but we can come close,' said Katie Nixon, a farmer and the co-director of New Growth Food Systems, which is affiliated with the West Central Missouri Community Action Agency. 'Our quality is usually a lot higher,' Nixon said. 'Lettuce, for example, will last three weeks in the cooler, whereas lettuce coming from greenhouses in God knows where will last a week before they turn to mush.' The Blue Springs School District saw a 40% increase in the use of its cafeteria salad bars after switching to local produce, Smith said. And school districts often find less waste and more savings, despite the slightly higher price when purchasing the produce, Nixon said. Research shows that farm-to-school programs, like sourcing local produce and teaching kids about farming, resulted in students choosing healthier options in the cafeteria and eating more fruits and vegetables. Schools also saw an average 9% increase in students eating their meals from the school cafeteria when they participated in farm-to-school programming. During Trump's most recent Cabinet meeting at the White House, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kenendy Jr. said the administration is planning a massive overhaul of the federal school meals program. 'It's going to be simple, it's going to be user friendly. It is going to stress the simplicity of local foods, of whole foods and of healthy foods,' Kennedy said. 'We're going to make it easy for everyone to read and understand.' Auterson and Nixon feel that the cancellation of the program is retribution for those who benefited from policies and funds initiated during the Biden administration. 'They're hurting everyone,' Auterson said. 'Everyone is suffering from them being retributional.' This article first appeared on Beacon: Missouri and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ending Missouri's tampon tax won't make period products much more affordable
Jessica McClellan, president and founder of Giving Hope & Help Inc., wants her Kansas City nonprofit to help end period poverty and fight the stigma that surrounds menstruation (Suzanne King/The Beacon). Tucked in to legislation Missouri lawmakers passed last week is a provision that will do away with the state sales tax on period products. The measure doesn't represent a significant cost savings for consumers. It would only shave about 38 cents off a $9 box of tampons. But advocates raising awareness about the financial burden some people face with every menstrual cycle — and the resulting health consequences — argue that doing away with the state 'tampon tax' does have symbolic importance. 'It's not going to cost (the state) that much,' said Emily Swanigan, a spokeswoman for Period, an education and advocacy group, 'but it's going to demonstrate that women's health is a priority.' Missouri Republicans included the tax break on period supplies, along with diapers and incontinence products, in a bill passed May 7 that also eliminates the state's capital gains tax. In a statement, Republican House Speaker Jon Patterson of Lee's Summit called the bill 'family first legislation.' Gov. Mike Kehoe is expected to sign it. 'Cutting taxes on diapers and feminine hygiene products affects ALL Missouri families,' the statement said, 'and will have the greatest positive impact with low-income women and girls across Missouri.' Democrats, too, have supported cutting taxes on necessities like period products and diapers. They did not support this bill because of the capital gains tax provision, which they argued will largely benefit wealthy Missourians and leave the state in fiscal peril. But getting rid of the tax on period products and diapers is the right thing to do, said Rep. Jo Doll, a St. Louis County Democrat, who for five years has introduced legislation to remove the tax on menstrual products and diapers. 'The concept that we're taxing basic necessities as luxury items just seems absurd,' she said. 'I'm sure if you talk to anyone who uses diapers or period products, they can tell you they are not a luxury.' Missouri is one of 20 states that still charge sales tax on period products. Period, Swanigan's organization, estimates that Kansas collects just over $3 million annually on taxes assessed on period product sales, while Missouri brings in close to $8 million, a sliver of the state's $53 billion budget. Kansas lawmakers have also considered legislation to do away with that state's tax on period products, but so far that effort has failed. Still, advocates said, the fact that red states like Missouri and Kansas are considering the issue at all is evidence of growing awareness about 'period poverty,' the lack of access to affordable menstrual products. Alabama also recently passed a bill to eliminate its state tampon tax. Experts said the COVID pandemic may have helped fuel awareness. Supply chain issues and lack of access to products at schools and other public places during the pandemic made the problem even more pronounced and harder to ignore. Awareness helps in finding a solution to a problem that in past generations was rarely discussed, especially in public, Swanigan said. People are starting to see period products as an essential need, like medicine or food, she said. 'Even within the last two to five years, we've seen an increase in understanding about this issue,' Swanigan said. 'That's good news for future policy changes that could help more people.' In addition to calling for an end to all sales taxes on these products — counties and cities tax them, too — Period wants to see government programs like Medicaid cover them. Food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC do not. A 2023 survey commissioned by Period and Thinx Inc. found that a quarter of teens and one-third of adults struggled to pay for period products, which have been soaring in price. According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal, the price of tampons went up 36% between 2019 and 2024, while the cost of sanitary pads rose 41%. It's a major financial strain for many families, said Jeanette Higgins, a nurse practitioner at Children's Mercy Hospital. 'Especially for low socioeconomic households,' Higgins said, 'they may be forced to choose between buying a menstrual product or buying food.' The rising cost of menstrual products may be part of the reason Giving the Basics, a Kansas City-area nonprofit that provides pads, tampons and other hygiene supplies to shelters, food pantries and schools, has seen a sharp jump in demand for them. In 2024, the organization distributed 750,000 period products around Kansas, Missouri and 18 other states. That was a 56% jump from the previous year, said Ashley Allison, the organization's marketing coordinator. 'It's one of our most requested products for sure,' she said. 'It's a huge need.' Other Kansas City organizations, including Giving Hope & Help Inc. and Strawberry Week, also work on raising awareness and making supplies available to people in need. When people can't afford proper supplies to manage their periods they often miss work, which has economic consequences. Kids also miss school and school-related activities. That not only can cause them to fall behind in their classes, it can lead to depression and anxiety, Higgins said. 'Fearing that when they have their period, are they going to have a product?' Higgins said. 'Are they going to have to miss an activity or have to miss school?' Giving the Basics donates period products to 1,028 schools in Missouri and Kansas, including the Independence School District. Lori Halsey, that district's director of health services, said she wants every student to know they are welcome to take as much as they need for themselves and their family. In addition to donations from Giving the Basics, Halsey said the district relies on grants and funding from the state education department to meet the need. 'It is a struggle for girls to not have that resource,' Halsey said. There are also health consequences. The 2023 survey from Period found that 40% of teens and more than half of adults have worn period products longer than recommended. Higgins said using a pad or tampon too long can lead to infections or serious illness. Improvising with supplies not intended for that use can also cause infections, she said. While more schools provide free products to students, asking for them can be intimidating, especially for teens. Stigma is another major hurdle in the fight to end period poverty. 'Girls, especially young girls, have a lot of trouble just even talking about periods,' Higgins said. 'Having to go to the nurse to discuss their period cannot be comfortable to begin with, and then they have to discuss why they don't have products available to them.' That's why period products should be free and widely available, said Jessica McClellan, founder and president of Giving Hope & Help, a Kansas City organization that donates pads, tampons and other care items to people in need. Just as people can find free toilet paper in virtually any public restrooms, she said, people should also find free menstrual supplies. And the world should stop being afraid to talk about periods. 'There's power in the period,' McClellan said, as she walked around her organization's Midtown storage room, stocked floor to ceiling with pads, tampons and other hygiene products destined for schools, domestic violence shelters and, sometimes, communities on the other side of the world. 'This is not a woman's health problem,' she said. 'This is a world health care problem that we can easily solve. And it's a world health care problem that's right here in Kansas City.' This article first appeared on Beacon: Kansas City and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
