Interventions intended to reduce over-prescription of pain medicine may unintentionally be feeding a rise in heroin use in southwest Colorado.
Public health
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Española has tried everything to stop drug overdoses
What we can learn from the fight against addiction in a small New Mexico town.
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The San Luis Valley’s controversial needle exchange idea
Local leaders contemplate a program to address drug-associated health risks with a rocky history.
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How a police chief used compassion to combat his community’s drug problem
The approach taken by Gloucester, Massacusetts, might falter in New Mexico, where it’s desperately needed.
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How to find its high-risk drug users before it’s too late
Rio Arriba’s health care providers are pulling together to treat patients and prevent overdoses.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Columbia River ‘shadow tribes’ face a housing crisis
The feds have promised lodging at traditional fish camps — but haven’t delivered.
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How to get a drug treatment that works into every medicine cabinet
State agencies are having success countering New Mexico’s overdose epidemic by increasing access to opiate antidotes.
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How Utah coal interests helped push a secret plan to export coal from California
Companies and investors are trying to survive a collapsing U.S. coal market.
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Firearm safety group targets suicide at the source
As Western states outpace the national average on gun suicides, one group looks to sellers for help.
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The New Mexican clinic that makes rural healthcare work
Hidalgo Medical Services puts patients first, builds healthcare teams and attracts providers.
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Can Alamosa find a fix for the ‘catch-all’ emergency room?
A new movement aims to provide an alternative for people experiencing mental health crises in Colorado.
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A video fix for rural healthcare’s challenges
A program to connect urban specialists with rural doctors saves time and money on stroke treatment.
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After a national scandal, New Mexico’s veterans health care is looking up
Veterans are getting faster care, but new programs aren’t reaching everyone.
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Rural New Mexico hospitals pool resources to survive
Will a new network be the difference for remote hospitals on the brink of financial collapse?
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Tracing the West’s heroin highways
Illicit drugs move through this region at farther distances and greater speeds.
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Why the EPA fails to enforce the Civil Rights Act
Despite a new environmental justice action plan, the EPA has a poor record of protecting communities of color from toxic environments.
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Why doesn’t the West report its lead data?
Lead poisoning in children is underreported nationwide, and the West’s lack of data is particularly glaring.
Posted inMay 2, 2016: The Gold King Reckoning
Inside the moss mystery: How the organisms helped reveal Portland’s pollution
Surveys of tree moss uncovered contamination that may have led to higher cancer rates.
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Pain pill addiction has helped precipitate a rise in heroin abuse West-wide
Near Sacramento, California, nearly a dozen people died from opioids in recent weeks.