let's talk to brandon marshall. he's an associate professor at brown university school of public health. he joins us from providence, rhode island, brenda marshall, welcome to al jazeera. i remember maybe a 2, maybe 3 of the trump administration. he was going to war against opioid addiction. what happened to that? thanks peter, for having me on the show. so, you know, this is a staggering an unprecedented loss of life over 93000 people died of a drug overdose in, in 2020. but as you indicated, we've been seeing these increases actually for more than 2 decades now in family, some of the actions the trump administration took to try to address this problem, probably made it worse. what we need now are major investments in harm reduction, evidence based treatment, and in dressing. many of those stressors that you mentioned that are affecting people who are suffering from addiction and at risk for overdose, like joblessness, social isolation and threats of addiction. and i suppose when covert hit in the u. s. just the sa

brandon marshall, professor of public health, explains how cove in 1900 self isolation rules and making the problem. even worse, using alone is a major risk factor for death. if no one is around to intervene in the event of that overdose, no overdose needs to result in death. we have tools that work like locks phone, which we're versus opioid overdose is. and if someone is around, they can call 911, and all, and receive that person to receive emergency care. so all of that is probably and was probably less likely during the pandemic when people were experiencing social and physical isolation and using drugs alone. we have millions of people in this country who are currently experiencing substance use disorders, and we do not have robust, easily accessible treatment system in this country. many communities, particularly black and brown communities, experienced major barriers to accessing treatment. one thing we've seen during the co pandemic is that federal regulators have relax some of those restrictions and improved access to the therapies via tele medicine for example. so that's a goo

. >> reporter: and this murder suspect, 30-year-old brandon campbell, was arrested by the u.s. marshals last night. he was released after a st. louis city prosecutor failed to show up to three scheduled court hearings. she reportedly was on maternity leave and has since resigned. the st. louis circuit attorney's office released a statement saying in part that they will take corrective measures to prevent any repeat occurrence of the incident in question, but

well, last night that murder suspect, 30-year-old brandon campbell was arrested by the u.s. marshals just outside of st. louis. though he's back in custody there's outrage how the circuit attorney's office is operating. missouri governor mike par sons said, the dysfunction in the st. louis circuit attorney's office and unwillingness to take violent crime seriously has once more caused st. louis families justice. here is the reaction from the police. >> it hurts the policemen who put the cases together who are away from their families, hours and hours. the families of the victims that have to go through all of these court appearances just to get a day where a case is dropped. >> the st. louis circuit attorney's office also allowed a man accused of beating another man to death to plead out to involuntary manslaughter with eight years. the victim's mother expressing her disappointment. >> the prosecutor was in and of himself not prepared to handle my son's case. he seemed absolutely unaware, as he flipped through pages, what he was talking about. this is not my fault, he said. i was jus

. >> reporter: another man accused of murder if, brandon campbell, was arrested last night by the u.s. marshals just outside of st. louis. he was allowed to walk free earlier this week after a st. louis prosecutor failed to show up to three scheduled court hearings. she reportedly was on maternity leave and has since resigned. kim gardner's office says corrective measures will be taken, but missouri lawmakers are still upset. the governor, mike parson, said is, quote, the dysfunction in the st. louis circuit attorney's office and its unwillingness to take violent crime seriously has once more cost st. louis families justice. and is here's reaction from st. louis police. >> it shows that there's no accountability and, you know, for the criminals. they can go and do whatever they want and, you know, they're going to be back out on the street the next day. >> reporter: also i spoke with a number of people from st. louis including advocates for crime victims. and while they all declined to go on camera, they say these legal challenges with gardner's offices are extremely painful for the families of

puzder, nicole saphier, congressman ashley hinson, senator roger marshall, james carafano, kristin tate and top border official brandonjed also a lot of stories tonight a jampacked show, the president insisting no serious economists think inflation is on the way when former clinton economic advisor larry summers and robert ruined entered ruben say it is, growing number abiding officials say it is possible covid-19 did leak from the wuhan lab contradicting dr. fauci downplaying that. florida governor ron desantis calling out president biden to move fast to get internet help to human freedom fighters as a blackout on the internet, this feels like cuba is east germany 1989, it's a white house seizing the moment like reagan and george h. w. bush did, we all saw this debate tonight, violent crime and defend the police movement hit a new tipping point? terrifying shooting outside of a major-league baseball park right in washington, d.c. look at this story, this is quick it took a few days for the biden administration to blow up its partnership with facebook to censor vaccine disinformation. the president dialed back his cla

nicole saphier, congressman ashley hinson, senator roger marshall, james carafano, "the hill"'s kristin tate, top border official brandon judd. we have a jam-packed show. the president insisting that no serious economist thinking inflation is on the way, when former clinton economic advisors, larry summers around robert rubin say yeah it is. a growing number of biden officials say it is possible covid-19 did leak from the wuhan lab, directly contradicting dr. fauci who has been down praying. ron desantis calling on president biden to get internet help for cuban freedom fighters there is a black out on the internet there. this feels like cuba is east germany circa, 1989. is white house seizing the moment like reagan and george hw bush did? we have this debate. did violent crime and defund the police movement hit a tipping point with the terrifying shooting outside of a major league baseball park right in washington, d.c. look at this story. this was quick. it took just a few days for the biden administration to blow up its partnership with facebook, to censor vaccine disinformation. the president today dialed back his cl