4 USA
4 USA February 2 2022 | World and Press America’s next wave of opioid misery is already here DRUGS A powerful new breed of narcotics is threatening to accelerate the country’s addiction epidemic. mit Übungsmaterial By Hugh Tomlinson 1 WHEN A sample from an overdose victim was sent her way, Alexandra Evans, a forensic chemist at the Public Health Laboratory in Washington, was alarmed. A new drug had hit the city’s streets, and it was up to ten times more powerful than fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that accounts for the majority of American overdose deaths. 2 In recent weeks, syringes tested by forensic chemists under the city’s needle exchange programme have confirmed the spread of this powerful new family of narcotics across the capital. Known as nitazines, these more potent synthetic opioids are arriving just as the city grapples with the epidemic of addiction sweeping America, with deaths from drug overdose surging to record levels. “It’s definitely concerning and the timing is so unfortunate for this to happen in the middle of a pandemic,” Evans said. 3 America passed a grim milestone last month, with the news that the country had exceeded 100,000 deaths from drug overdoses in a year for the first time. Data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 275 | Photo: Picture Alliance Americans died every day from overdoses during the 12 months to April. 4 The opioid crisis has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Experts have blamed the toll on financial, social, and mental health. During lockdown many drug users were alone, further reducing the chance that emergency teams would reach them in time after an overdose. The COVID-19 crisis also coincided with a flood of fentanyl on to the market. 5 However, the emergence of even more potent opioids on the streets of the capital and other cities threatens to accelerate America’s mounting epidemic of addiction. The nitazenes have not emerged in sufficient quantities to displace fentanyl, which has itself supplanted heroin, but have alarmed drug agencies. Experts believe that larger doses of Narcan, the overdose antidote drug, would be needed to save users who overdose on nitazenes. 6 Successive governments have vowed to tackle the opioid crisis but each has been powerless to halt the wave of drug addiction and death that has ravaged America. Drug deaths surpass the number of Americans killed by guns, car accidents, and the flu combined. 7 Fentanyl itself is several times more powerful than morphine and is increasingly laced into other drugs, such as cocaine, killing people who take it without knowing. 8 New York became the first city to open two safe injection centres, in Manhattan, last week – clinics where addicts can take drugs with medical help on hand in case they overdose. Appeals to open America’s first “overdose prevention centres”, following a model adopted in Europe, Australia, and Canada, have been blocked for years by the Justice Department. New York reported more than 2,000 overdose deaths last year, a spike of 38 per cent from 2019. The 565 drug fatalities recorded across the city in the first quarter of 2021 suggest the death toll will climb higher again this year. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, cleared the centres to open. 9 Dr Dave Chokshi, a New York City health commissioner, said: “We have to tackle this crisis concurrently with our COVID fight. Giving people a safe, supportive space will save lives and bring people in from the streets.” © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. 0 – 1 OPIOID MISERY“"´UpIOId‘ Opioid-Misere — breed Art — narcotic “nA…"kÅtIk‘ Rauschgift — to threaten “"Tret´n‘ drohen — to accelerate “´k"sel´reIt‘ h.: verschärfen — addiction epidemic “´"dIkS´n‘ Suchtepidemie — sample Probe — overdose victim Drogentote(r) (o. Überdosis) — forensic chemist “"kemIst‘ forensische(r) Chemiker(in) — laboratory “l´"bÅr´t´ri‘ — fentanyl “"fent´nIl‘ — to account for s.th. für etw. verantwortlich sein 2 syringe “sI"rIndZ‘ Spritze — needle exchange programme Nadelaustausch-Programm — potent “"p´Ut´nt‘ stark — to grapple with s.th. mit etw. kämpfen — to sweep s.th. s. in etw. rasant ausbreiten — to surge “s‰…dZ‘ ansteigen 3 – 4 grim düster — to exceed “Ik"si…d‘; s.w.u. to surpass “s´"pA…s‘ übersteigen — to release veröffentlichen — to exacerbate “Ig"zœs´beIt‘ verschlimmern — toll Opferzahl — to coincide with s.th. “Æk´UIn"saId‘ mit etw. zus.fallen 5 emergence “I"m‰…dZ´ns‘ Aufkommen — mounting wachsend — sufficient “s´"fIS´nt‘ ausreichend — to displace; s.w.u. to supplant “s´"plA…nt‘ verdrängen — drug agency “"eIdZ´nsi‘ Drogenbehörde — antidote “"œntId´Ut‘ Gegenmittel 6 – 7 successive “s´k"sesIv‘ aufeinanderfolgend — to vow “vaU‘ versprechen — to tackle bekämpfen — to halt “hO…lt‘ eindämmen — to ravage “"rœvIdZ‘ heimsuchen — morphine “"mO…fi…n‘ Morphium — to lace into s.th. etw. strecken 8 – 9 addict “"œdIkt‘ Süchtige(r) — appeal Appell — to adopt “´"dÅpt‘ einführen — Justice Department Justizministerium — spike Anstieg — drug fatalities “f´"tœl´tiz‘ Drogentote — to record verzeichnen — quarter Quartal — death toll “t´Ul‘ Zahl der Todesopfer — to clear Freigabe erteilen — health commissioner “k´"mIS´n´‘ h.: Chef(in) der Gesundheitsbehörde — concurrently “k´n"kør´ntli‘ zeitgleich More American adults say they don’t expect to have a child SOCIETY The main reason given by childless adults is that they do not want any children. By Alex Tanzi 1 A GROWINGshare of U.S. adults who aren’t already parents say they probably won’t have children, citing reasons such as apathy, financial instability, or the lack of a partner. A new survey from the Pew Research Center found that 44% of non-parents ages 18 to 49 say it’s not too likely, or not at all likely, that they will have children someday, an increase of seven percentage points | Infographic: Statista from the 37% who said the same in 2018. 2 The survey doesn’t bode well for a reversal of the downward trend in U.S. fertility rates, which have been hammered by the public health and economic crises caused by the pandemic. The number of babies born in the country fell 4% to about 3.6 million in 2020, the largest decline since 1973, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 3 President Joe Biden’s signature social-spending bill, which passed the House on Friday, marked a dramatic shift toward boosting support for families with children after decades of government benefits that skewed toward the elderly. About onethird of the spending in the .75 trillion bill is devoted to bolstering families through direct cash payments, subsidized child care, and universal pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year-olds to help ease the costs associated with having children. 4 Although the reasons for not having children vary sharply, the main one given by childless adults is simply that they don’t want any. Other reasons given include medical at 19% and financial at 17%. About 15% cite the lack of a partner, 10% said it was the age of their partner, and 9% blamed the state of the world. Roughly one in 20 cite environmental factors including climate change as the reason behind their desire to not have a child. 5 Among adults under 40 who are already parents, about onequarter don’t expect to have more children due to the financial cost involved, while three in ten say they’re too old. The survey of 3,866 U.S. adults ages 18 to 49 was conducted October 18–24. © 2021 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC 0 – 2 CHILDLESSkinderlos — to cite “saIt‘ anführen — apathy “"œp´Ti‘ Gleichgültigkeit — survey “"s‰…veI‘ Umfrage — percentage points “p´"sentIdZ‘ Prozentpunkte — to not bode well nichts Gutes verheißen — reversal “rI"v‰…s´l‘ Umkehr — fertility rate “f´"tIl´ti‘ Fruchtbarkeitsrate — to be hammered by s.th. (fig) von etw. schwer gebeutelt werden 3 signature … “"sIgn´tS´‘ h.: als zentrales Projekt seiner Amtszeit designiert … — social-spending bill h.: Sozial- und Klimapaket — to mark darstellen — shift Verlagerung — government benefits staatl. Zuschüsse — to be skewed toward s.th. “skju…d‘ auf etw. ausgerichtet sein — the elderly ältere Menschen — trillion Billion — to be devoted to s.th. für etw. vorgesehen sein — to bolster unterstützen — to subsidize “"søbsIdaIz‘ bezuschussen — to ease “i…z‘ lindern 4 – 5 to vary sharply sehr unterschiedlich ausfallen — environmental factors Umweltfaktoren — desire “dI"zaI´‘ Wunsch — to conduct “-"-‘ durchführen
World and Press | February 2 2022 USA 5 Jackson Circle, one of 140 roundabouts in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel. Right: A double-tear or “dogbone” roundabout at Keystone Parkway and 116th. | Photos: AJ Mast/The New York Times The midwestern city where rounder is greener CITIES • CLIMATE Carmel, Indiana, has the most roundabouts in the country. They’ve saved lives – and lowered carbon emissions. By Cara Buckley 1 IT’S GETTINGharder and harder to run a stoplight here, because there are fewer and fewer of them around. Every year, at intersections throughout this thriving city, traffic lights and stop signs have disappeared, replaced with roundabouts. Lots and lots of roundabouts. 2 There is a roundabout decorated with the local high school mascot, a greyhound, and another with giant steel flowers. A three-mile stretch of Carmel’s Main Street has 11 roundabouts alone. The roundabout that locals perhaps prize the most features box hedges and a three-tier bronze fountain made in France. In 2016, it was named “International Roundabout of the Year” by no less than the U.K. Roundabout Appreciation Society, which, according to the Carmel mayor, Jim Brainard, is largely made up of “three guys in a pub.” (Their actual membership is six. But, still.) 3 Carmel, a city of 102,000 north of Indianapolis, has 140 roundabouts, with more than a dozen still to come. No U.S. city has more. The main reason is Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard. ity, and, unlike stoplights, keep functioning after bad storms – a bonus in these meteorologically turbulent times. “Modern roundabouts are the most sustainable and resilient intersections around,” said Ken Sides, chair of the roundabout committee at the Institute of Transportation Engineers. 6 The reason that Carmel has so many roundabouts is Brainard, the city’s seven-term Republican mayor. Brainard first encountered roundabouts in the 1980s, when he studied at the University of Oxford and became taken with European traffic flow. After getting elected mayor in 1995, he asked a consultant to look into building a roundabout in Carmel. The consultant refused, saying they were dangerous and pointing to | Infographic: Statista safety; compared with regular intersections, roundabouts significantly reduce injuries and deaths. 4 But there’s also a climate benefit. Because modern roundabouts don’t have red lights where cars sit and idle, they don’t burn as much gasoline. While there are few studies, the former city engineer for Carmel, Mike McBride, estimates that each roundabout saves about 20,000 gallons of fuel annually, which means the cars of Carmel emit many fewer tons of planet-heating carbon emissions each year. And U.S. highway officials broadly agree that roundabouts reduce tailpipe emissions. 5 They also don’t need electrican effort in Massachusetts to remove them. 7 But Brainard discovered that the consultant was confusing roundabouts with rotaries, or large traffic circles, which are bigger, arguably scarier, and include Dupont Circle in Washington and Place Charles de Gaulle, the multilane beast around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 8 Modern roundabouts, by comparison, are compact, with lower speed limits, traffic yields rather than stops, and generally fewer lanes. Unlike traffic circles where cars enter at 90-degree angles, traffic flows into modern roundabouts at a smaller angle, drastically cutting the chances of getting T-boned. Well-designed ones are also more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists. In 1997, Brainard oversaw the building of a roundabout on the city’s outskirts and added another two the following year. Locals, initially skeptical, warmed to them: They alleviated rush hour backlogs and stops. Within a decade, the city had close to 50, and doubled the number again over the next ten years. 9 “Now we can’t live without them,” said Becky Blystone, a preschool teacher who also works at All Things Carmel, a souvenir shop on Main Street that sells roundabout-themed tchotchkes like drink cozies and playing cards. 10 Not everyone is a fan. “I hate them,” said Corey Hill, a call center director from nearby Avon who said he often gets stuck behind confused out-of-towners. Bill Greenman, operations manager at a restaurant downtown, said local sentiment often varied by mood. “If you’re having a wonderful day, you’ll probably just ignore them,” he said. “If you’re having a bad day in traffic, you’ll probably blame it on roundabouts.” … 11 The U.S. has been slow to adopt modern roundabouts, though that is changing somewhat. By one count, they now number about 7,900 countrywide, with hundreds added each year. Still, hesitation remains. McBride, who, as Carmel’s city engineer for 13 years, oversaw the construction of nearly 80 roundabouts, said roundaboutcurious municipal leaders often asked how to win over the public. 12 “You can spit out fact-based data, but at the end of the day most of the general population is scared of things that are new and different,” McBride said. Roundabouts put decision making in the hands of drivers, unlike much of the U.S. roadway system, which, McBride said, “doesn’t put a lot of faith in the driver to make choices.” “They’re used to being told what to do at every turn,” he said. … © 2021 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 0 – 2 CARBON EMISSIONS“I"mIS´nz‘ CO 2 -Emissionen — to run a stoplight e-e rote Ampel überfahren — intersection “Æ-- "sekS´n‘ Straßenkreuzung — to thrive “TraIv‘ (fig) florieren — three-mile stretch ca. 4,8 km langer Abschnitt — to prize schätzen — box hedge Buchsbaumhecke — three-tier “tI´‘ dreistöckig — no less than niemand Geringeres als — appreciation “´Æpri…Si"eIS´n‘ Wertschätzung — to be made up of bestehen aus 3 – 4 Indianapolis “ÆIndi´"nœp´lIs‘ — to idle “"aId´l‘ im Leerlauf stehen — gasoline “"gœs´li…n‘ Benzin — city engineer Bauingenieur(in) im öffentl. Dienst — 20,000 gallons ca. 75.708 l — to emit “I"mIt‘ ausstoßen — highway official Mitarbeiter(in) der Autobahnbehörde — broadly weitgehend — tailpipe emissions Abgasemissionen 5 – 7 meteorologically “Æmi…ti´r´"lÅdZIk´li‘ — sustainable “s´ "steIn´b´l‘ nachhaltig — resilient “rI"zIli´nt‘ robust — chair Vorsitzende(r) — transportation engineer Verkehrsingenieur(in) — seven-term … … in der siebten Amtszeit — to become taken with s.th. von etw. begeistert sein — rotary “"r´Ut´ri‘ (AE) großer Kreisverkehr — arguably “"A…gju´bli‘ wohl — multilane mehrspurig 8 traffic yield “ji…ld‘ Vorfahrtszeichen; Vorfahrt gewähren! — angle Winkel — to T-bone (coll) seitlich rammen — to oversee beaufsichtigen — local Ortsansässige(r) — to warm to s.th. s. mit etw. anfreunden — to alleviate “´"li…vieIt‘ verringern — backlog Rückstau 9 – 10 preschool Vorschule — tchotchke “"tSÅtSk´‘ (coll) Schnickschnack — drink cozy Getränkewärmer — to get stuck stecken bleiben — out-of-towner Ortsunkundige(r) — operations manager Betriebsleiter(in) — sentiment “"sentIm´nt‘ Meinung 11 – 12 somewhat etwas — by one count nach e-r Zählung — hesitation “ÆhezI"teIS´n‘ Bedenken — municipal leader “mju…"nIsIp´l‘ Stadtoberhaupt — to win s.o. over jdn. überzeugen — to spit out (fig) um s. werfen
