KQED High school script sample: audio commentary

Author: KQED Education Workshop

Everyday in the United States hundreds of lives are lost to opioid overdoses–a preventable tragedy that continues to devastate families and communities. Behind these numbers though, are real people: mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and life-long friends. Addiction isn’t a moral failing, it’s a public health crisis. While billions are spent combating symptoms and putting drug users in jail, too little is invested in solutions that work. This isn’t just a crisis; it’s a call to compassion and a chance to do better. Scene (personal experience or memory) Many people never come into personal contact with addiction and the effects of drugs like heroin, oxycontin, and fentanyl. However, ever since I first dipped my toe into helping those affected it has consumed my life. A year and half ago I worked at a SAFE House in Alaska; a place for those suffering drug, domestic, and/or sexual abuses. I witnessed more horrors in the month and a half I worked there than I had in my whole life up to that point. I saw addicts who needed help trying to reach out but unable to break the physical hold the drugs had. I saw mothers and fathers ask us to take care of their babies because they couldn’t escape the grasp on their minds. I saw people overdose; seizing, throwing up, and scratching at themselves. The look in their eyes as the light begins to leave them. I delivered naloxone to some of these people and held them down as they thrashed at me, screaming about how I had ruined their high. Between all the horrors though, I saw people who needed help. Help getting back on their feet. Help finding a job and functioning in society. Help defeating their demons. I realized these aren’t nameless people, they’re human beings. Our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers. I became convinced we could not, no matter what abandon these people. Argument (Claim, Evidence and Reasoning) The United States needs to adopt a harm reduction policy to address the opioid epidemic effectively. Evidence from Switzerland demonstrates the potential success of such an approach: after implementing harm reduction strategies like supervised injection sites and medication-assisted treatment, overdose deaths dropped by 50%, and new heroin users declined by 80%, according to the Stanford Social Innovation Review. In the U.S., the need for similar measures is urgent, particularly in states like California, where the Department of Public Health reports nearly 7,000 opioid-related deaths annually, with approximately 6,000 linked to fentanyl. Furthermore, the National Institute on Drug Abuse highlights that decades of research support harm reduction strategies, showing they significantly reduce overdose deaths and curb the spread of infectious diseases. These strategies prioritize saving lives and reducing harm while addressing addiction as a public health issue rather than a criminal one, offering a proven path to combat the opioid crisis more effectively. Conclusion/Call to Action It is clear that the United States must shift to a harm reduction approach to combat the opioid epidemic effectively. The success in Switzerland, coupled with alarming statistics from California and decades of research supporting harm reduction strategies, makes this change seem obvious. Policymakers should prioritize implementing evidence-based measures like supervised injection sites, access to naloxone, and medication-assisted treatment nationwide. By focusing on saving lives and reducing harm, we can address the opioid crisis as the public health emergency it truly is and move toward a healthier, safer future for our communities.