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A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

The Justice Division is suing AmerisourceBergen over opioids. Of their civil lawsuit, federal prosecutors accuse the drug wholesale distributors of failing to inform the federal government about suspicious opioid orders. It is simply the newest chapter in a pivotal yr for the opioid disaster. Extra folks died than ever earlier than from drug overdoses, as avenue fentanyl flooded communities. However there have additionally been main reforms in dependancy therapy. This yr, drug firms additionally agreed to pay greater than $50 billion to assist communities get better from the opioid epidemic. NPR’s dependancy correspondent Brian Mann joins us now to take inventory. Brian, so many individuals are nonetheless dying. Why does the opioid disaster preserve getting worse?

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Yeah, the massive wrongdoer now, A, is avenue fentanyl, this highly effective, lethal artificial opioid. It is so lethal it is contributing to a drop in American life expectancy. The CDC says overdose deaths appeared to have peaked in March of this yr at 110,000 Individuals dying from these medication in a single 12-month interval.

MARTÍNEZ: And also you discovered that numerous Individuals dying of overdoses are younger, underneath the age of 40. What are they saying concerning the hazard of fentanyl?

MANN: Yeah, I’ve spent numerous time speaking with younger folks, they usually’re scared. I frolicked in Tacoma, Wash., with Marche Osborne, who’s 31 years outdated. She used to make use of heroin, however now these fentanyl capsules are the one opioid she will discover on the road.

MARCHE OSBORNE: They’re zombifying folks. They’re – anyone will do something for a tablet. It is ridiculous. Like, they’re turning folks – they’re dehumanizing folks. And it isn’t a superb factor, and it isn’t going to go anyplace good if it continues.

MANN: And due to fentanyl, drug overdoses at the moment are a number one explanation for demise for Individuals underneath the age of 40.

MARTÍNEZ: But it surely’s led to some main reforms this yr in dependancy therapy. What’s altering?

MANN: Yeah. For a very long time, the illness of dependancy has been form of siloed off from the remainder of the well being care system. And due to stigma and pink tape and lack of insurance coverage protection, lots of people, like Marche Osborne, with dependancy get no assist of any type. And what’s loopy about that, A, is that there are literally nice drugs, like methadone, buprenorphine, naloxone. These medication might help folks cease utilizing opioids. They might help reverse overdoses earlier than they’re deadly.

So what occurred this yr is the Biden administration and Congress pushed by way of a sequence of actually main reforms, a few of them tucked into that large spending invoice that was signed by President Biden yesterday. These reforms are already making it a lot simpler for medical doctors and medical clinics to prescribe these drugs. And the CDC information, as grim as it’s, means that issues could also be bettering. Since March, month by month, the speed of overdose deaths have began to come back down. Specialists I talked to say they hope this can be a actual turning level.

MARTÍNEZ: What about this – any progress in stopping fentanyl from coming into the U.S.?

MANN: There’s actually no excellent news there. The Biden administration says border brokers seized twice as many fentanyl capsules coming from Mexico in 2022, greater than 50 million capsules that they captured, most coming by way of ports of entry. That does not seem, although, to be placing a dent on the street provide. Fentanyl proper now’s all over the place, and it is simply tremendous low cost.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Yet another large improvement this yr was a reckoning with pharmaceutical firms. They made and offered numerous opioid ache capsules. How a lot will company America pay? And can that cash assist?

MANN: Yeah, this was a giant game-changer in 2022. Huge Pharma ignited this public well being disaster, aggressively advertising opioids, and now firms starting from CVS and Walmart to Cardinal Well being and Johnson & Johnson, this yr they got here to the desk. They agreed to pay greater than $50 billion in settlements. And specialists I talked to say this cash will assist, funding a bunch of drug therapy packages and well being care, particularly in rural areas and concrete neighborhoods the place the necessity is determined. Nobody believes this can be a silver bullet for the opioid disaster, however together with the opposite reforms we talked about, this improvement in 2022 may save numerous lives.

MARTÍNEZ: That is NPR dependancy correspondent Brian Mann. Brian, thanks.

MANN: Thanks.

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MARTÍNEZ: Brazilian soccer legend Pele has died on the age of 82.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: Watch Pele now. What a stupendous purpose from Pele. El Rey Pele – 100 objectives for Brazil.

MARTÍNEZ: He is typically known as the best of all time and is the one participant to guide their nation to a few World Cup titles, the primary when he was simply 17 in 1958. He made the No. 10 shirt an iconic picture in world soccer. Pele ended his profession serving to to popularize soccer right here within the U.S. when he joined the New York Cosmos in 1975. And later in life, he served as an envoy for the game and witnessed its worldwide growth. Andrew Downie has written two books about Brazilian soccer, and he joins us now from Sao Paulo. Andrew, in his personal phrases, I imply, Pele mentioned that when he began, he simply wished to be pretty much as good as his dad, who was additionally a soccer participant in Brazil. He ended up, I believe, being much more. What made him a legend?

ANDREW DOWNIE: Nicely, as you mentioned in your intro there, he was the primary participant to – and the one participant to win the World Cup 3 times. And I believe by that, he alone – that places him above most of the others that performed the sport. He was additionally (inaudible) who took a small-time membership, Santos, to the highest of the world. They grew to become the champions of South America and the champions of the world. And after that, he had – he was akin to, I believe, Muhammad Ali within the U.S. He was the one man, together with Ali, who was recognizable in the entire world. And I believe he did this at a time when soccer was changing into a enterprise in addition to a sport, and that gave him this projection all around the world. And it projected Brazil all around the world as a result of, earlier than Pele, earlier than that crew of the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies, folks – lots of people didn’t know Brazil. And he actually put Brazil on the map, and it made him a real legend.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, a one-named famous person – that is how you realize you are large. What is the temper in Brazil right now? What is the nation going to do?

DOWNIE: Nicely, the interval between Christmas and New Yr is all the time fairly quiet in Brazil as a result of there’s all the time lots of people who go on vacation and, you realize, works are off. It is all the time – there’s not the same old hustle and bustle that you’ve got the remainder of the yr. So issues have been just a little bit quieter. However there has undoubtedly been an enormous outpouring of grief over the past 24 hours as a result of everybody acknowledges, you realize, the greatness of Pele, the legend of Pele. Individuals had been, I believe, anticipating his demise. He is been out and in of hospital for greater than a yr. And the final month, his household have been posting footage and, I believe, making ready folks for the worst as a result of they knew issues – that he was not getting significantly better. So there’s this grief, and other people have taken it with a sort of naturalness as a result of they knew that it was about to come back.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. You realize, many large Brazilian superstars that got here after Pele – like Zico, Ronaldinho, Neymar – they think about him an inspiration, however I do not assume any of them actually ever eclipsed Pele within the hearts of Brazilians.

DOWNIE: No, I do not assume so. All of them – I imply, Pele was this – was a curious man within the sense that he would typically seek advice from himself within the third, and he would say, you realize, Pele is the soccer participant, the general public face, and Edson – his identify was Edson Arantes Nascimento – Edson is simply the non-public man. And he had this curious relationship with Brazilians. They realized how nice he was, how sensible he was and the way necessary he was for the nation, however there was numerous questions on whether or not he stood up for Black Brazilians, you realize, sufficient throughout the racism that he suffered within the – notably within the ’60s and ’70s. There was numerous questions on whether or not he ought to have performed extra to face as much as the army dictatorship within the Nineteen Sixties and ’70s. And he additionally had a really – a personal life, let’s consider. He was married 3 times. He had a number of youngsters…

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, yeah.

DOWNIE: …Some out of wedlock. And I believe these had been all points that basically complicate his legacy for some Brazilians.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Andrew Downie becoming a member of us from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Andrew, thanks.

DOWNIE: Thanks.

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MARTÍNEZ: One of many takeaways from the midterm elections final month – a majority of younger voters, millennials and members of Technology Z, forged their ballots for Democratic candidates. Now younger Republicans are demanding change from their social gathering in an effort to sustain with their era. Right here to inform us all about it’s NPR’s Elena Moore. So what are younger Republicans telling their social gathering?

ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: At the start, they’re taking note of this exit polling. Nationally, over 60% of voters underneath 30 forged their ballots for Democrats this midterms, which is the second-highest youth turnout for Democrats after the 2018 midterms. And that is fairly notable. One of many conservatives I talked to about this was former congressional candidate Karoline Leavitt, who’s 25. Leavitt misplaced her race in November, however as a member of Gen Z herself, she takes this all very significantly, calling it, you realize, the best problem for the Republican Get together right now.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: It is a couple of candidate or one marketing campaign can deal with. It must be a colossal shift within the messaging and the mediums utilized by the GOP and the institution. And it is discouraging to see, you realize, the Republican institution not even acknowledge that this downside exists.

MOORE: Leavitt’s arguing that Republicans have to each enhance their on-line outreach technique and actively spotlight points that younger folks care about, like defending the atmosphere and lowering the price of housing and even going to varsity.

MARTÍNEZ: I could not assist discover that abortion was not on that listing. That was a giant challenge, a giant one, for Democrats within the midterms. How does that play into younger Republicans’ technique right here?

MOORE: Proper, proper. A, it is a large problem. Pollsters and voter information specialists inform me that defending abortion entry is vital to sustaining help amongst these youthful voters, because it was such a giant challenge this previous election. So I requested one other younger conservative about this, 25-year-old Iowa Home Consultant Joe Mitchell, and he advised me Republicans actually cannot draw back from discussing divisive points like abortion. And Mitchell himself, by the best way, voted to limit abortion entry within the state Legislature. However he made the same level on addressing local weather change and gun violence, too.

JOE MITCHELL: Coming entrance and heart on these points to say, no, we consider in, you realize, affordable exceptions for these types of issues. We consider in having a extra renewable vitality future when that works and when that is applicable. And clearly, we need to be sure that youngsters are secure at school. And we simply have completely different concepts of how you can shield them.

MOORE: And Mitchell went on to inform me that taking these social points head-on is necessary once they’re requested about, as an alternative of getting Republican stances oversimplified by Democrats, opponents, the like.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, factor is, although, political events are drenched and entrenched in custom. They put on it like a coat of molasses. All proper, so how can youthful conservative influencers shake up establishments that possibly aren’t simply modified?

MOORE: Nicely, that is what they’re making an attempt to determine. We did attain out to the Republican Nationwide Committee. They didn’t reply to NPR’s request for touch upon this story. However, you realize, lengthy story brief, A, it will be a troublesome steadiness. You see from Leavitt and Mitchell that social points appear to, you realize, not less than be a part of the best way in to getting this youthful era engaged. However as one Republican pollster put to me, social points do not hand victories to Republican candidates the identical means financial points do, and meaning it is a restricted pool of sources. It is about the place the cash will get spent. Why spend cash on participating with a brand new age group, younger voters, who aren’t reliably conservative and traditionally aren’t even dependable voters when older voters constantly vote Republican and end up at increased charges?

MARTÍNEZ: That is NPR’s Elena Moore. Elena, thanks.

MOORE: Thanks, A.

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