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Battling Opioid Epidemic In North Carolina

WUNC | By Laura Lee,

Frank Stasio, Jason deBruyn

Published January 11, 2017 at 12:25 PM EST

Prescription pills

Prescription pills

Note: this program is a rebroadcast from December 15, 2016.

President Obama signed legislation this week allocating $1 billion dollars to address the nation's worsening opioid crisis. Overdose deaths are on the rise, and current policies are inadequate in addressing the issues. Host Frank Stasio speaks with Louise Vincent, a recovering addict, officer Donnie Varnell, WUNC data reporter Jason deBruyn and Dr. Robyn Jordan about the opiod epidemic in North Carolina.

Host Frank Stasio speaks with Louise Vincent, a recovering addict, who lost her child, Selena, to a drug overdose. He also speaks with officer Donnie Varnell about how the law enforcement community is trying to address the problem. Also joining the conversation is WUNC data reporter Jason deBruyn and Dr. Robyn Jordan, who works in several Triangle addiction clinics and teaches at the UNC School of Medicine.

The North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalitionoffers information and resources for those seeking assistance.

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio

Laura Lee

Laura Lee began her journalism career as a producer and booker at NPR. She returned to her native North Carolina to manage The State of Things, a live daily statewide show on WUNC. After working as a managing editor of an education journalism start-up, she became a writer and editor at a national education publication, Edutopia. She then served as the news editor at Carolina Public Press, a statewide investigative newsroom. In 2022, she worked to build collaborative coverage of elections administration and democracy in North Carolina.

Laura received her master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland and her bachelor’s degree in political science and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

See stories by Laura Lee

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio

Jason deBruyn

Jason deBruyn is the WUNC data reporter, a position he took in September, 2016.

See stories by Jason deBruyn