The Surgeon General Urges More Americans to Carry Naloxone
Advocacy groups have long pushed for making more naloxone available to the public as a way to prevent overdoses. The surgeon general's advisory gives that effort a big boost.
Heroin
New CDC Data Shows a Jump in Opioid-Related Overdoses
Over 63,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2016.
An Off-Label Use of Cheap Strips—to Test for Deadly Contaminants in Drugs—Gets the Backing of Science
Research is beginning to show that cheap strips can accurately detect deadly fentanyl, and encourages people to get high more cautiously.
In Heroin's Heartland
As the opioid epidemic spins out of control, a grassroots network of activists is fighting it at the source.
Why West Virginia's Heroin Overdose Rate Doubled After It Mandated Doctors Use the State Drug-Monitoring Database
Could the program have driven some West Virginians to use heroin?
Five Studies: Understanding America's Opioid Crisis
After 20 years of skyrocketing addiction rates, how can the United States get its pill problem under control?
Needle Exchanges Work
Volunteers in inner cities launched the United States' first needle exchange programs, but now the need has moved to suburban and rural America.
How Big Pharma Gave America Its Heroin Problem
OxyContin, designed for cancer pain relief, became the drug prescribed for back and tooth aches.
Five Studies: New Approaches in Treating Addiction as a Disease
The disease model of addiction offers addicts several ways forward—including getting drunk to beat alcoholism.
Why the Future of Drugs Is in Genetically Engineered Microbes
Though a new generation of genetically engineered microbes is raising fears about home-brew heroin, a technology de-coupled from the whims of growing seasons could also mean cheaper, legal drugs.
Gathering Political Support for Heroin Addiction's Most Effective Treatment
Seeing opioid addiction as a disease, instead of a moral failing, helps.
Who Does, and Who Doesn’t, Get Drug Treatment in Prison
New research finds a racial disparity.
Drug Courts Grow Up
As drug courts spread across the world, new standards and best practices aim to hold them all accountable.
The Other Prison Health Crisis
Hepatitis C is common behind bars, but sick prisoners aren’t getting treatment.
When Addicts Get Out of Jail
New research suggests that maintaining methadone treatment in jails and prisons would save lives.
How America Overdosed on Drug Courts
Hailed as the most compassionate way for the criminal justice system to deal with addicts, drug courts were designed to balance punishment with rehabilitation. But after 25 years, the verdict is in: Drug courts embolden judges to practice medicine without a license—and they put lives in danger.
American Judges Are Playing Doctor—and Doing Harm
An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.
How Public Policy Made Indiana's HIV Crisis Worse
Political opposition to needle exchanges, reproductive health services, and other public health fixtures has helped create an outbreak in Scott County, Indiana.
Marijuana Isn't a Gateway Drug No Matter What Chris Christie Says
The New Jersey governor is against legalization, but it's unclear why.
The Drug Lord With a Social Mission
Matt Bowden (sometimes known as Starboy, an "interdimensional traveler") helped create one of the most viral outbreaks of new drugs in history. He might also have the antidote.
Prescription Painkiller Abuse Linked With Heroin
As states crack down hard on pain prescriptions, some are seeing a resurgence in abuse of the harder stuff.
The Future of Addiction: Predictions for the Next 40 Years
My book Love and Addiction, published in 1975, proved prescient in the decades that followed. How optimistic should we be as we look further ahead?
Kicking Methadone With Johnny Winter
How sleight-of-hand—and obsessive-compulsive disorder—helped the guitarist shake 30 years of addiction.