Planet Money

Suboxone: Why Government is Frustrating

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

NPR’s Planet Money team tells the story of Suboxone, an anti-addiction drug that the government subsidized then regulated to the point that it is almost impossible for addicts to access.  To attain the anti-drug, addicts are left turning to… their drug dealers. 

Here is a description of the story: 

There’s a pill called Suboxone that treats addiction to heroin and pain pills like oxycontin. Doctors and addicts say it’s amazing.

“It was the best thing that ever happened,” one heroin addict told us. “I was like OH. MY. LORD. This is a miracle pill.”

The government spent tens of millions of dollars developing Suboxone. Doctors can prescribe it in their offices. But a lot of people who want it can’t get it from a doctor, so they have to buy it on the street.

Today on the show: Why people have to turn to drug dealers to get a pill that fights addiction.

Lollipops, Politics, and Economics: It’s Complicated

/ Matthew Clemente / 1 Comment

Lollipops, Politics, and Economics: It’s Complicated

NPR’s Planet Money recently ran a story titled “The Lollipop War.” The story illustrates why regulating economic policy can be difficult.

Sugar costs more in the U.S. than in the rest of the world. If you’re in the candy business — if, say, you make 10 million lollipops a day — that’s a big deal.

On today’s show, we visit a candy factory in Ohio (where they want U.S. sugar to be cheaper) and a sugar-beet field in Minnesota (where they don’t). And, perhaps inevitably, we hear from Washington, where the fight over sugar has been playing out for years.