Opioid addiction is killing from 35,000 to 50,000 people every year. Ten states and a number of cities and counties are suing opioid makers accusing them of lying about the addictive nature of the powerful painkiller. Many of those lawsuits involve Mike Moore. When Mike Moore was Mississippi's attorney general, he spearheaded the 50-state lawsuit against tobacco companies and won the biggest civil settlement in U.S. history. Now, he's trying to do the same thing against opioid manufacturers and distributors. Listen to hear more about this deadly and complicated crisis, and then debate: Should the drug companies be sued for creating the opioid epidemic?
Story Length: 6:01
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September 29, 2017
3:38
Teens who vandalized an historic black schoolhouse in Virginia got an unusual sentence. The teens pled guilty to spray-painting swastikas and lewd symbols on the building. Instead of jail time, the judge ordered them to visit the U.S. Holocaust Museum and read books written by black, Jewish and Afghan authors and write essays about them. Listen to this story and then debate: Can consequences change the way students think?
Read MoreJuly 12, 2017
2:40
The United States is in the middle of an opioid addiction crisis. Millions of Americans are addicted to prescription painkillers, and thousands are dying from overdoses. The increase in addiction is attributed to doctors overprescribing painkillers. Recently doctors have decreased the amount of opioids prescribed as a response to the crisis, but there are still a high number of prescriptions given for these drugs. Listen to hear more about the trends in opioid prescriptions and what might be done about this crisis.
Read MoreJanuary 22, 2016
3:36
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found that the use of electronic cigarettes has tripled among U.S. teenagers in the last year. They are now more popular than conventional cigarettes. E-cigarettes create a nicotine vapor to inhale, which is still dangerous for developing brains. Public health officials are concerned about how aggressively e-cigarette companies market to teens with sweet flavors and cartoons. Listen to this story and then debate the positive and negative opinions on e-cigarettes.
Read MoreOctober 15, 2015
4:20
Many professional athletes have been accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs. Some have confessed and some have gone to court denying their use. Why do these drugs cause such debate? Some say they are so prevalent it would be better to regulate them than to ban them. Others say using or prescribing these drugs is illegal and dangerous. What do you think? Would sports be better off regulating instead of banning performance enhancing drugs? Listen to this story and discuss both sides of this debate.
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