217 Today: States differ in how they’ll use more than $50 billion from opioid settlements
The money from opioid settlements is forcing officials to reckon with long-held beliefs and judgements about addiction. Is addiction a crime or is addiction an illness? Will officials look to build jails and hire more police, or will they look to treatment models and care? James Vavrek/WTIU
Thursday, December 1, 2022
Today's headlines:
- Thursday is the last day of the so-called veto session. And Illinois Lawmakers are expected to consider changes to the controversial law that is set to eliminate cash bail next year.
- Governor JB Pritzker has dedicated a new Springfield memorial to highlight former President Barack Obama’s rise to power.
- University of Illinois professors have published a study diving into the experiences of pregnant women of color during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Chinese students at the University of Illinois say they’re proud of protesters in their home country, where the government is cracking down on public demonstrations against COVID-19 lockdowns.
In today's deep dive, we’ll look at how states will spend billions of dollars coming to them from recent settlements with opioid drug manufacturers.
217 Today is produced by Sydney Wood. Reporting today contributed by Shannon Heffernan, Dave McKinney, Luis Velazquez, Jeremy Lin and Dan Gorenstein.