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Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
Wed Apr 6, 2022, 10:46 AM Apr 2022

Missouri's fentanyl crisis is worsening, but patients can't get treatment for substance abuse

High school sophomore Ethan Everly died of an overdose last week in Kansas City after taking a pill laced with the potent and dangerous opioid fentanyl.

Everly's death is only the latest warning that the drug epidemic is spreading quickly in Missouri.

A decade ago, the state's opioid crisis was fueled by prescription pills, and largely affected rural, mostly-white communities. But in the last five years, the crisis entered a new phase — one dominated by fentanyl, and focused in urban areas.

When it hit St. Louis, Morris Lockett saw the change first-hand. Lockett used drugs for most of his life, and ended up spending 17 years in prison. When he returned home in 2019, he found the scene had transformed.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2022-04-05/missouris-fentanyl-crisis-is-worsening-but-patients-cant-get-treatment-for-substance-abuse

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