opioids

The rise in heroin use in the town of Turners Falls, Mass., has led to another problem: a proliferation of discarded hypodermic needles. Police can't keep up, so they've asked residents to help.

The U.S. epidemic of injected-opioid use could lead to more severe outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C, like those now occurring in Indiana, the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention says.

Southeastern Indiana is battling an HIV outbreak. The new cases are mostly linked to injection drug use and have reignited a debate over needle exchanges, which are currently illegal in the state.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin attracted national attention this month when he devoted his entire annual State of the State speech to heroin addiction in Vermont. As the state expands addiction treatment services, it's also trying to come to grips with one of the most difficult and emotional aspects of the problem: pregnant women addicted to opiates.