heroin

Anatomy Of Addiction: How Heroin And Opioids Hijack The Brain

7:15pm January 11, 2016

by Jack Rodolico

Roughly 2.5 million Americans are addicted to heroin and opioids like Oxycontin. Researchers say addiction takes over the brain's limbic reward system, impairing decision making, judgment and memory.

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#MemeOfTheWeek: 'D-Money,' Race And Drugs In America

8:00am January 09, 2016

by Sam Sanders

Maine's governor made some offensive comments about black men, young white women and Maine's drug problem. He says it was a slip, but it may reveal a lot about the way many think about drugs.

A "speedball" mix of heroin and cocaine has caused overdose deaths for decades. Today, high-risk blends may alternatively include heroin or opioid pain pills plus Klonopin, Clonidine, or Fentanyl.

Drug Cocktails Fuel Massachusetts' Overdose Crisis

7:28pm December 08, 2015

by Martha Bebinger

A state analysis reveals that the majority of overdose deaths in 2014 came from heroin or prescription opioids taken in combination with cocaine, anti-anxiety medications or alcohol.

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Gretchen Burns-Bergman (center) speaks Wednesday at a rally in front of the White House about ending mass incarceration of drug users.

Mothers Who Lost Children To Addiction Unite To Change Laws

4:07pm November 20, 2015

by Angus Chen

Women whose children have become addicted to opioids are working to change laws around the country. They seek improved access to treatment and reduced stigma.

A protester in West Virginia holds a sign ahead of President Obama's speech on drug abuse that reads, "Don't blame me. I voted for the American."

Welcome To West Virginia, Obama — In 2 Pictures

4:23pm October 21, 2015

by Domenico Montanaro

President Obama is slated to speak in West Virginia Wednesday afternoon, but protesters were lining up hours beforehand — and their welcome wasn't exactly hospitable.

In Boston, Edmund Hassan, a deputy superintendent of emergency medical services, and his colleagues regularly revive people who have overdosed on opioids.

Science

Reversing Opioid Overdoses Saves Lives But Isn't A Cure-All

4:36pm October 07, 2015

by Deborah Becker

Having police, school nurses, drug users and family equipped with kits to reverse an overdose saves lives, doctors say. But reversing addiction requires follow-up care that many users aren't getting.

A nasal spray version of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone demonstrated at police headquarters in Quincy, Mass., in 2014.

Price Soars For Key Weapon Against Heroin Overdoses

2:24pm September 11, 2015

Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen is working to put the anti-overdose medication naloxone into the hands of as many heroin users as possible. But the price of the antidote has nearly doubled.

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Health worker Nathan Fields (left), Rep. Donna Edwards and Dr. Leana Wen show people how to use naloxone on a street corner in Sandtown, a Baltimore neighborhood where drug activity is common.

Baltimore Fights Heroin Overdoses With Antidote Outreach

6:59pm September 10, 2015

by Audie Cornish

Fatal overdoses are rising among an estimated 19,000 people who use heroin in Baltimore. To curb deaths, the city's health commissioner aims to make an antidote widely available to drug users.

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Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has been used for decades as a painkiller in the operating room.

How The Prescription Painkiller Fentanyl Became A Street Drug

11:23am August 28, 2015

by Nadia Whitehead

The synthetic opioid fentanyl is used for surgery and to treat severe pain. Abuse has always been a problem. Now that it's being used to cut heroin, the risk of overdose or death has soared.

Heroin sold in the U.S., like this dose confiscated in Alabama last fall, is often cut with other drugs.

Illicit Version Of Painkiller Fentanyl Makes Heroin Deadlier

3:28pm August 27, 2015

by Fred Bever

U.S. drug officials have traced a sharp spike in the already climbing death toll from heroin overdoses to an additive — acetyl fentanyl. The fentanyl is being cooked up in clandestine labs in Mexico.

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