addiction

Vaping has become ever-present among teens, but the health risks are real. How do you talk to your kids about vaping?

Health & Safety

How To Talk To Teens About Vaping

7:01am October 06, 2019

by Emily Vaughn

Vaping has attracted a new generation to nicotine, and is fueling a dangerous outbreak of lung disease. If you're a parent of a teen you're probably worried. But what should you say to your kids?

Clinics are selling an unproven therapy for addiction.

Health & Safety

Addiction Clinics Market Unproven Infusion Treatments To Desperate Patients

1:44pm August 22, 2019

by Jake Harper

Some addiction treatment clinics offer IV infusions of a mix of supplements — including something known as NAD. The treatment isn't proven to work and is not FDA-approved for addiction.

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Computer cafes in South Korea, such as the Oz PC Bang in the Gangnam district of Seoul, are often shiny places with big, comfy chairs, huge screens and fast Internet.

Hooked On The Internet, South Korean Teens Go Into Digital Detox

12:25pm August 13, 2019

by Michael Sullivan

Online gaming and other digital activities cause problems in people's health, relationships and studies. Government centers treat teen boys and girls who struggle to cut down on use of tech devices.

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Books
Arts

'Idiot Wind' Tells A Personal Tale Of Journeying From Addiction To Recovery

5:01am July 30, 2019

by Martha Anne Toll

Even if we weren't in need of another road-trippy-addiction memoir, Peter Kaldheim's book recounts his very human efforts to swim to shore with compassion and gratitude.

Nationally, drug overdose deaths reached record levels in 2017, when a group protested in New York City on Overdose Awareness Day on August 31. Deaths appear to have declined slightly in 2018, based on provisional numbers, but nearly 68,000 people still d

Health & Safety

U.S. Overdose Deaths Dipped In 2018, But Some States Saw 'Devastating' Increases

5:16pm July 18, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Provisional overdose data for 2018 show a note of hope in an overall bleak picture. But in some states, the numbers actually got worse. What explains the disparities?

Drug agents last fall worked with a Minneapolis police SWAT team to seize just under 171 pounds of methamphetamine. Many U.S. states say they face an escalating problem with meth and drugs other than opioids.

Federal Grants Restricted To Fighting Opioids Miss The Mark, States Say

8:10pm June 13, 2019

The U.S. government has doled out at least $2.4 billion in state grants since 2017, specifically targeting the opioid epidemic. Yet drug abuse problems seldom involve only one substance.

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Volunteers help pay for and disseminate overdose kits, including the overdose antidote, naloxone, in Summit County, Ohio. The costs of battling the addiction crisis are a burden on many local municipalities.

Health & Safety

Cities And States Look To Big Pharma To Cover Costs Of The Opioid Epidemic

10:10pm May 27, 2019

by Brian Mann

The pharmaceutical industry is facing hundreds of lawsuits around the country from state and local officials, who want the industry to help pay to tackle the opioid epidemic.

Sam Nugraha, who himself was once addicted to heroin, now runs a rehab center in Indonesia with a different philosophy from those of abstinence-based programs.

Health & Safety

Why An Indonesian Rehab Center Doesn't Insist On Abstinence

6:58pm May 16, 2019

by Julia Simon

Sam Nugraha of Indonesia says that in his country, a smile can be a mask covering inner turmoil. So how do you get addicts to be honest?

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Health & Safety

Addiction Kills More Blacks, But Treatment Is Prescribed Mostly To Whites

9:34pm May 08, 2019

by Martha Bebinger

A study looked at who gets prescriptions for buprenorphine, and found that white patients are almost 35 times as likely to get the lifesaving addiction treatment than African Americans.

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The Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Plymouth houses men for court-mandated addiction treatment.

Prison For Forced Addiction Treatment? A Parent's 'Last Resort' Has Consequences

7:13am April 20, 2019

by Deborah Becker

Thousands of Massachusetts residents have been committed to treatment for addiction against their will. Some families say locking up addicts in prison isn't treatment. Others say it saves lives.