Taking action on International Overdose Awareness Day
Today is International Overdose Awareness Day. Drug overdose death rates worldwide are skyrocketing: of the estimated 78,000 deaths in 2010 because of illegal drug use, more than half were due to...
View ArticleMaine heroin deaths up 300% since 2011
Driven by the painkiller addiction epidemic, the number of people in Maine who have died from a heroin overdose each year since 2011 has increased by 300%, according to Harper’s Magazine, which cites...
View ArticlePrescription drugs took 700 lives in N.J. in 2011, 2012
Prescription drugs were implicated in the deaths of more than 700 New Jersey residents in both 2011 and 2012, according to statistics released by the state assistant state medical examiner. The number...
View ArticlePain pill prescriptions fueling teen addiction: study
There are many reasons why teenagers get hooked on prescription drugs, but new research conducted at the University of Michigan has found that those who are prescribed pain relievers are at “notable...
View ArticleIn Ohio, suburban heroin deaths on the rise
In Ohio, prescription drug addiction is increasingly putting young, educated suburbanites on the path to heroin addiction. According to this article, these addicts are flooding detox centers, rehab...
View ArticleN.J. police to carry Narcan
In New Jersey, where drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death, police officers in several counties will now be allowed to carry the anti-overdose drug Narcan. Police in Ocean,...
View ArticleVt. heroin ODs doubled in past year
What started as an OxyContin and prescription drug addiction problem in Vermont has now grown into a full-blown heroin crisis, with heroin overdose deaths doubling last year from the year before,...
View ArticleWisc. legislators tackle heroin abuse
In Wisconsin, where heroin killed nearly 200 people in 2012, legislators are considering legislation that would provide immunity to anyone who helps a person who has overdosed on drugs, and would also...
View ArticleTeen pill abuse down in Ohio
There is evidence that Ohio’s efforts to curb prescription drug addiction among teens is working. Fewer than 12.8 percent of ninth through 12th graders reported using prescription painkillers without a...
View ArticleGeneration Rx
As you may know, I am a journalist. When my 20-year-old brother Pat died of a heroin overdose in 2009, I had heard about powerful painkillers like OxyContin and knew he was addicted to them, but I...
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