- Addressing the prejudices of pain medication use.
- The manipulative ways food is marketed.
- The Boise Library initiates new late fee structure.
- Idahoans celebrate World Refugee Day.
- 2016 CDC guidelines regarding the prescription and discontinuation of opioid pain medications were initiated to curtail the growing addiction epidemic. Doctors and pharmacists were given non-mandatory recommendations on how much to prescribe and when to stop refills; in some municipalities, counties and states, lawmakers used these guidelines to pass legal restrictions leaving many with chronic pain unable to obtain pain relieving medications. Don't Punish Pain organizes voices and rallies appealing for a repeal of these guidelines and laws. Idaho Matters meets some local members of the organization and efforts to de-stigmatize legitimate use of these medications.
- In the old days, food marketers relied on cartoon characters, quirky commercials and colossal packaging to sell products. Today, it is all about selling sustainability. Putting the words "organic," "GMO free" or "free range" on the box seals the deal. Marketers and retailers have been hip to this shift for years and most consumers are playing right into plan. On Monday's Idaho Matters, we talk with University of Idaho Extension horticulturist Ariel Agenbroad. She spoke last week for the U of I Vandal Voices series and her presentation, "How Smart Marketers Influence the Way We Eat," addresses how we buy our food.
- After the American Library Association determined late fees constitute social inequity in 2018, the Boise Public Library is considering dropping the enforcement of fines. Idaho Matters talks about eliminating the economic barriers that discourage library use and how it has worked in communities like Meridian, Caldwell and Eagle.
- Friday, June 20, is World Refugee Day - a time when people in Idaho and around the globe recognize the struggles of the world's refugees and efforts to provide relief, security and freedom for these populations. Kara Fink of the Idaho Office for Refugees joins Idaho Matters to talk about Boise's legacy as a refugee-welcome city and events downtown commemorating the day.