Sarah, this story has promise, but you need four sources. And, as we have discussed, any story about addiction needs to have addicts or people in recovery interviewed. There are other sources/resources in the addiction and recovery community besides Kinzly, so reach out and expand your reporting. What is your multimedia?
This past Last summer, a standing order was written for naloxone Naloxone, known more commonly by its brand name, Narcan, to be readily available without prescription in every Walgreens in Texas, similar to what’s been done for flu shots.Who wrote the standing order? Is there a way to re-cast this lead so it’s in the active voice?
Why is it this a big deal? Because it Narcan is an opioid antidote, meaning it’s injected by a trained individual while someone is actively overdosing on opioids.
Availability comes after state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1462 last year. The bill allows for third party perscription. This means that , meaning the person that who purchases it doesn’t necessarily have to be the person that needs it, similar to what you might do with an Epipen -check spelling, used for the emergency treatment of severe allergic reactions. anaphylaxis. While most law officials are trained to inject naloxone, 82% look up AP Style for percent of the time it’s done by peers or family members.
Mark Kinzly, co-founder of the Texas Overdose Naloxone Initiative, has plaid a key role in supplying naloxone at no cost. Since 2013, TONI has donated over $100,000 of free medication to Austin Harm Reduction Coalition, a syringe exchange. Explain what a needle exchange is here.
“The way overdoses are portrayed in the media would make you think that a large majority are people using illicit drugs,” Kinzly said. But, in fact, it’s people that who have been prescribed pain medication can overdose. Many people who have been prescribed pain meds are also addicts, no? We have a huge prescription drug addiction problem in this country. What would help the reader put all of this into context are national statistics on addiction and use of Narcan. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be a good source for this information. Take a look at their website.
“This means that it could be a 68 year-old AP Style = 68-year-old woman that takes Oxycontin for paid might accidentally overdose because she was given too much and might have not even known it was possible for her to overdose.”
In addition to efforts like those of Kinzly, the law enforcement has helped lessen the stigmatization of substance abuse. Things like needle exchanges, which provide drug users with at least 10 clean needles for one used needles, have reduced the law enforcement’s risk of needle sticks by 66%, according to?????? All assertions need attribution in news stories.
Kinzly points out that a misconception about harm reduction is that they who are “they”? provide rehabilitation or therapeutic resources. But their main goal is to reduce the spread of disease and risk of overdose. In fact, some police will regularly bring a drug user they caught to a harm reduction facility as opposed to jail or sober houses, said ????? What is a sober house?
Michael Botticcelli is the Director director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House. He has educated those in law enforcement about the language they should use in terms of someone suffering from substance abuse and how to treat drug users in general. AP Style = titles are lowercase when they appear after names (uppercase when they appear before names). Also, this is out of context. Did you interview Botticcelli (whose name is spelled wrong, by the way)? If not, I’m not sure you need this paragraph at all.
Kinzly originally came to Austin in 2013 seeking treatment. Having suffered from addiction on and off throughout his life, he made the choice to stay in Austin and create TONI since no other such resource existed. Naloxone has been around since 1996, but it has only been gaining traction for the past couple years.Why is it gaining traction?
“It’s no longer just minorities or low-income people that are overdosing,” Kinzly said. “Since the children of white, affluent people are becoming addicted to opioids, it’s becoming a bigger issue.” Why are white, affluent people becoming addicted to opioids? Again, you need to define the problem with statistics up high. A lot has been written about the addiction to opioids and its relationship the heroin explosion. Help the reader with a nut graph or two, up high, that explains the problem.
November 4, 2016 at 10:38 am
Capitalize “Naloxone”. I like that you pose a question in your lead and leave no room for confusion. I also like how well you explain what these drugs are.
In your nutgraph, attribute the 82% statistic.
The quote in the 4th paragraph has “pain” misspelled as paid.
In the 5th paragraph, you need to attribute the numbers you are giving. Also, the last sentence is a tad confusing. Are you saying cops were being stuck more prior to the program’s implementation?
In general, I LOVE the story! It is clear, concise and I understand exactly what you are saying. I think what would be more compelling is putting a person as the center of the story. Telling the story of naloxene and the needle exchange program by telling the story of an addict- if you can. If you can’t find someone willing to talk (understandably so), I suggest using Kinzly’s story and starting off with that. Maybe after the lead and nutgraph you can say “Mark Kinzly is the cofounder of TONI, but before that he was an addict who saw a gap in the treatment system for addicts. He battled with addiction for many years and after moving to Austin in 2013 to seek treatment, he started the Texas Overdose Naloxone Initiative to help stop deaths relating to overdose.” Something to that effect. Great story though!
I also think the writing can be a lot tighter. Be direct and say exactly what you mean.
Good suggestion for getting around the lack of any interviews with addicts and/or people in recovery, but as a last resort. I really, truly believe you can find people to interview on this subject. It is widely covered. This is a matter of spreading out beyond Kinzly. Good critique, Rosemond.