Latest / Apple News Today / Why schools are facing a teen drug crisis like no other

Transcript

Why schools are facing a teen drug crisis like no other · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  [INTRO MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:01
  Gideon Resnick, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, September 6th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show…
• 0:02
  How schools are confronting the fentanyl crisis…
• 0:03
  Why festivals like Burning Man can go so wrong…
• 0:04
  And the young stars making a big splash at the U.S. Open…
• 0:05
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:06
  But first, let's take a brief look at some major stories in the news. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is in Kyiv today, on a previously unannounced visit. He talked about the latest in Ukraine's efforts to win back control of land occupied by Russia.
• 0:07
  [START SKY NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:08
  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken: We've seen good progress in the counteroffensive, which is very heartening. We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long term to make sure it has a strong deterrent, a strong defense capacity.
• 0:09
  [END SKY NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:10
  In the U.S., former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is heading to prison for 22 years. That's the longest sentence so far related to the Capitol attack on January 6th. Tarrio was one of several members of the far-right group convicted of seditious conspiracy. The judge said he deserved a long sentence because he played a leadership role in the insurrection.
• 0:11
  In other legal news, a new federal court ruling says that a congressional map created by Alabama Republicans dilutes the power of Black voters and defies a previous U.S. Supreme Court order to the state. Yesterday the appeals court appointed a special master to draw a new map. Alabama Republicans are expected to appeal. The state's map is one of several redistricting fights across the country that could affect control of Congress, given the GOP's thin majority in the House.
• 0:12
  Moving to sports, the coach of Spain's women's soccer team is out, fired just weeks after the team won the World Cup. Jorge Vilda was a controversial figure. Before the tournament, several players temporarily walked off the team, protesting what they say were his overly controlling methods. The firing comes as the head of Spain's soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, is suspended and under pressure to resign, for forcibly kissing player Jenni Hermoso at the World Cup victory ceremony.
• 0:13
  [REFLECTIVE MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:14
  Fentanyl is showing up in American schools, which are struggling to deal with this deadly drug crisis. “NPR” highlights stories of teenagers who thought they were taking prescription pills like Valium or Percocet. But they were fakes, laced with fentanyl just two milligrams of which can kill.
• 0:15
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:16
  Avery Kalafatas told “NPR” member station “WFYI” that she didn't even really know about the drug until it took her cousin Aidan's life.
• 0:17
  [START NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:18
  Avery Kalafatas: I was honestly pretty angry that this wasn't talked about more. As I became more aware of it through my cousin's death, I really saw a big need for more education, both among parents and especially teens.
• 0:19
  [END NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:20
  The “CDC” reports that fentanyl-related adolescent overdose deaths tripled between 2019 and 2021. That year, fentanyl was involved in 84% of all teen overdoses. One epidemiologist studying overdose prevention pointed to counterfeit drugs becoming so easy to obtain and a mental health crisis among teens as a few of the reasons behind this uptick.
• 0:21
  Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of the LA Unified School District said this is a bit of an unprecedented situation.
• 0:22
  [START NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:23
  Alberto Carvalho: Never would I have imagined that students would today have contact with a substance where even just a small bit of a pill could kill you.
• 0:24
  [END NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:25
  Some schools are revamping their efforts, with some promoting the use of test strips to identify if pills contain fentanyl. The LA Unified School District is one of the biggest districts to keep naloxone on stock. The medicine reverses opioid overdoses.
• 0:26
  But advocates say a lot of the work has to happen outside schools too. People like Kalafatas have been working on efforts to inform teens and their families about the dangers of fentanyl, without making the same mistakes of past anti-drug campaigns.
• 0:27
  [SYNTHESIZED MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:28
  [START NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:29
  Kalafatas: Having these conversations and having them right can be the difference between life and death.
• 0:30
  [END NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:31
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:32
  It's been a bit of a rough time for festivals over the past few days. At Burning Man in Nevada, torrential rain turned the desert into a muddy swamp that stranded tens of thousands of people. At Electric Zoo in New York, the first day was canceled, because organizers failed to get the main stage ready in time.
• 0:33
  But things can be worse. One of the most infamous festival fails was the Fyre Festival of 2017, where ticketholders ended up stuck on an island eating disgusting sandwiches in disaster-relief tents. I will never forget those images, personally.
• 0:34
  It might seem like more and more festivals are running into trouble these days. But “The Washington Post” points out that many of them go off without a hitch every year. But when a festival does fail, it fails big and tends to attract a lot of attention. And the reasons they fail can really range, according to event planners.
• 0:35
  For a festival in a remote location, like a Burning Man or Fyre Festival, brand new infrastructure must be created. That's transportation, to accommodations to bathrooms, food and water for thousands of people. All basic necessities must be accounted for. And logistically, that gets complicated even for the best in the business.
• 0:36
  At the same time, the costs of labor and construction materials are going up. Organizers are under pressure to keep costs down, which can lead to some problems. Electric Zoo organizers blamed "global supply chain disruptions" for the stage-construction delay. “NBC” reported on fans who were not satisfied with the explanations.
• 0:37
  [START NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:38
  Unidentified Speaker 1: You probably knew about this way in advance, like, probably either yesterday or the day before, and you wait three hours before the event's supposed to start. Seems a little bit ridiculous.
• 0:39
  [END NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:40
  And these days, organizers need to be better prepared for potential extreme weather, as climate change continues to create dangerous and unexpected conditions.
• 0:41
  As one event-safety consultant puts it to “The Post,” festivals have another problem in that they are often staged by people with little experience. Organizers sometimes are not all that organized. They may be passionate about the music or the money but lack experience putting on complex events.
• 0:42
  Not that it stops people from trying, though. Even the guy behind the Fyre Festival is back at it. After doing prison time for wire fraud, Billy McFarland popped up selling tickets for a new festival, starting at around $550 apiece.
• 0:43
  [UPBEAT MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:44
  Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz. If you've been following the U.S. Open even a little bit this year, you probably know the names of these two rising young stars in tennis. And if you don't well, consider this your introduction of sorts.
• 0:45
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:46
  Gauff is 19, and her win yesterday makes her the first American teen since Serena Williams to make it into the U.S. Open semifinals. After the match, Gauff talked about what it means to be compared to Williams.
• 0:47
  [START U.S. OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:48
  Coco Gauff: I think if you told me when I was younger that I would be in these same, like, stat lines are her, I would freak out. So, I'm still trying to not think about it lot because I don't want to get my head big or add pressure. But it is a cool moment to have that stat alongside her.
• 0:49
  [END U.S. OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:50
  Gauff says she's a fan of 20-year-old Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz, the current men's number one player in the world. Gauff says she watches his matches as often as she can. “The Wall Street Journal” reports on how that is actually a bigger compliment than it might initially sound.
• 0:51
  The reality is professional tennis players don't actually watch a lot of tennis. They have grueling schedules of training, travel, and competition, so it's hard to carve out several hours to watch an entire match, let alone when some of the ones at the U.S. Open are going to the wee hours of the morning. But the “Journal” reports that a lot of pros are making a point of watching Alcaraz, trying to learn from his moves and creativity on the court. Gauff credits him for his smooth sliding moves, enabling him to make shots without taking an extra step.
• 0:52
  Another rising star who says he watches: 20-year-old player Ben Shelton. Last night he became the youngest American man to reach the semifinals since 1992. It's the latest win in what's been a remarkable tournament so far for young American players. And if they do enough watching, maybe Alcaraz will have to watch out for them.
• 0:53
  [OUTRO MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:54
  You can get more U.S. Open coverage, and other stories, in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around.
• 0:55
  We've got a narrated article coming up next. Ronan Farrow reports for “The New Yorker” on Elon Musk. It’s about how the U.S. government relies on Musk's satellite-internet technology to aid Ukrainian forces. And how that reliance is creating some complications.
• 0:56
  That is cued up to play for you next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
• 0:57
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]