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Heroin Task Force Seeks Support For Rural Communities

Northern Public Radio | By Susan Stephens
Published January 11, 2018 at 6:38 AM CST

The Congressional Bi-Partisan Heroin Task Force laid out its 2018 agenda aimed at battling drug addiction.

The task force’s 16 priority bills address a wide variety of opioid-related issues, including expanding access to treatment, better ways to detect illegal drugs at the nation’s borders and improved monitoring of prescriptions.

U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-17, sponsored one of the priority bills, which would require the Department of Agriculture to join the effort against a problem disproportionately affecting rural America.

“We’ve asked for 20% of one of the funds in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help fight this through prevention, treatment and recovery,” Bustos said.

Bustos says the death rate is 45 percent higher in rural districts like hers.

Copyright 2021 WNIJ Northern Public Radio. To see more, visit WNIJ Northern Public Radio.

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Susan Stephens
Susan’s parents should have known she’d end up in radio: her favorite toys were tape recorders, cameras, notepads, and books. Many years later, she’s an award-winning reporter at her favorite radio station. Formerly WNIJ’s News Director, she asked to return to the role of full-time reporter/anchor/utility player in 2010 (less paperwork, more reporting!). Her #1 goal is to tell the most compelling stories in the fewest words possible…all the better if a little humor can be thrown into the mix. It should come as no surprise, then, that she can whip up a haiku for any occasion. She also enjoys the Detroit Tigers, learning pioneer skills (Gardening, canning, and the like. Just in case.), traveling with friends, and pretending she’s going to get around to playing her theremin.
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