News in Brief Want to Fix America’s Opioid Problem? Start With Its Doctors. New research finds a majority of opioids prescriptions came from office-based doctors, not emergency departments. Candace Butera
News in Brief The VA Is Prescribing Fewer Opioids—but Not for the Reason You Think American medical institutions created the opioid crisis. The VA is showing how the establishment can help make amends. Jared Keller
Economics California’s Cannabis Industry Moves Out of the Shadows and Into the Flames In the aftermath of California's devastating wildfires, cannabis producers are struggling to overcome decimated crops and a lack of federal support. s.e. smith
Social Justice In Heroin’s Heartland As the opioid epidemic spins out of control, a grassroots network of activists is fighting it at the source. Mark Oprea
Social Justice The Caregivers of the Opioid Epidemic Are Going It Alone Across the country, people are becoming unexpected caregivers of children whose parents have become addicted to opioids. In most states, they're doing it with little to no help at all. James McCandless
News in Brief Life Expectancy Fell in the United States Again, Mostly Because of Drug Overdoses Spanish flu, HIV/AIDS, drug overdoses: Epidemics that affect the young often show up dramatically in the data. Francie Diep
Social Justice A Tale of Two Drug Wars It seems compassion is an effective drug deterrent. Too bad there wasn't any during the crack epidemic. Jared Keller
News in Brief The FDA Just Approved a New Injection for Treating Opioid Addiction. Will Drug Courts Actually Let Defendants Take It? The new treatment may help overcome some courts' lingering—and dangerous—aversion to medication-assisted treatment. Francie Diep
News in Brief How One Surgery Department Cut Its Opioid Prescriptions by 7,000 Pills in Five Months A new study reports doctors in at least one hospital were prescribing far more pills than patients used. Francie Diep
News in Brief FDA Approves Monthly Injection to Treat Opioid Addiction Buprenorphine has long been considered a gold-standard treatment for addiction to prescription painkillers or heroin. Francie Diep