Drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 people in the US last year. To address the opioid drug crisis, the US Congress is debating a number of bills.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

PROGRAM # 10122 12:00 PM PT

Debating the Fentanyl Crisis in Congress. Drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 people in the US last year. To address the opioid drug crisis, the US Congress is debating a number of bills. The FEND OFF Fentanyl and the HALT Fentanyl Act take a law enforcement first approach. Another bill seeks to give more access to test strips. Analysts report and comment on the details of those bills, as they enter the final days in Congress, and the national response plan.

Young Inventors Target Drug Epidemic. A group of high school students from a small farming community in California won a national engineering award with an app called FentaKNOW. The bilingual app is to help communities combat the fentanyl crisis. What motivated the students to create this app? How does it work?

Guests: Carlos Tamayo, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Teacher, Mendota High School, Mendota, CA; Jonathan Alfaro, 14-year-old student; Anthony Trinidad, 13-year-old student; Jimmy Fuentes, 15-year-old student; winners of the MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition representing Mendota High School, Mendota, CA.

Photo: YourHandPlease/AdobeStock

For more information about Linea Abierta and to find previous shows visit our  Linea Abierta page.