drug addiction

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The VA Pumped Vets With Opioids. Now There's a Bigger Problem

How ex-service members got hooked on painkillers, and how the VA is letting them down: 'WSJ'

(Newser) - Veterans who return from service not only have to deal with everyday re-entry issues (finding jobs, reacclimating to life with family and friends), but also with the injuries and PTSD they may have brought home with them. To cope with the physical and mental pain, many of them are prescribed...

Sad Reason Why Ex-Inmate's Freedom Lasted Just 103 Days

Dealing with mental illness, addiction in Mass. prisons and in real world stacks deck against certain prisoners

(Newser) - It can be tough for ex-inmates to stay out of trouble when they get out prison, but for those with drug problems or battling mental illness in Massachusetts, the transition is even more of a struggle, per a piece by the Boston Globe's Spotlight team. A Department of Correction...

Surgeon General: More People Use Opioids Than Tobacco

And other surprising news from surgeon general's first report on substance addiction

(Newser) - The latest (and first) surgeon general's report on substance addiction was released Thursday, and it offers up a surprising slew of factoids. Per NPR , Dr. Vivek Murthy says more people are hooked on prescription opioids than tobacco, 50% more people (20.8 million, per recent estimates) have substance abuse...

Selfie Shows Before and After of Heroin Addiction

Courtney, 24, is two years sober and hoping to inspire others to get clean

(Newser) - On Wednesday, a Reddit user named DisregardThisOrDont posted an incredibly powerful selfie, Stuff reports. The selfie—posted alongside a mugshot taken two years ago—is captioned: "Here is what 826 days sober looks like. Recovery is possible!" According to the Houston Chronicle , DisregardThisOrDont is a 24-year-old named Courtney....

Addict Jailed for Sake of Unborn Baby
Addict Jailed
for Sake of
Unborn Baby
Sep 14, 2016 12:44 PM CDT

Addict Jailed for Sake of Unborn Baby

Alabama woman admitted to cops she was using heroin

(Newser) - In what police describe as "a sad case, no matter how you look at it," an Alabama judge has ordered a suspected drug addict to remain behind bars until she gives birth to her second child. Authorities say Alexandra Nicole Laird, 21, gave birth to a baby girl...

Heroin Being Cut With Drug That Can Kill an Elephant

2 counties in Indiana and Ohio had up to 60 ODs in a 2-day period this week

(Newser) - One hundred times more potent than the drug that played a role in killing Prince and 10,000 times stronger than morphine, carfentanil is the strongest opioid commercially available—an animal tranquilizer so lethal it can kill if absorbed through the skin and permanently take out a 7-ton elephant, per...

Citing Prince's Death, Chaka Khan Goes to Rehab

Says she's addicted to same drug that killed the icon

(Newser) - Chaka Khan and her sister have both entered a drug rehabilitation program to battle their addictions to prescription drugs, and Kahn says the death of her good friend Prince helped hasten her decision to get help. In a statement released to the AP on Sunday, the 63-year-old Grammy-winning singer said...

Ex-Addict: I Got Prescription Opioids Way Too Easily

Doctors knew history, kept pills coming

(Newser) - Seth Mnookin is recovering from a three-year addiction to heroin, which he kicked in 1997. So when he went to Massachusetts General Hospital to be treated for kidney stones that left him in severe pain, he made sure to tell every medical professional he encountered about his history with addiction....

AMC Working on Miniseries About Journalist David Carr

With Bob Odenkirk of 'Better Call Saul' playing Carr

(Newser) - A new AMC miniseries will bring the story of the late New York Times writer David Carr onto the small screen, the AP reports. The network is teaming up with Sony Pictures Television to develop a six-episode miniseries on Carr, based on his 2008 memoir The Night of the Gun ...

Prince Lay Dead in Elevator for 6 Hours

He had also sought help for apparent opioid addiction

(Newser) - Prince was apparently battling opioid addiction when he died—and when he did die, he lay in an elevator for at least six hours before being found, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Sources close to the investigation say Prince had suffered an opioid overdose on April 15 and received treatment...

Jamie Lee Curtis: I, Too, Was Addicted to Painkillers

She shares her story in response to Prince's death

(Newser) - It's time to do something about painkiller addiction, writes Jamie Lee Curtis in the Huffington Post , where she reveals that she was once addicted, like Prince reportedly was. "I too, waited anxiously for a prescription to be filled for the opiate I was secretly addicted to. I too,...

Prince Had Date With Addiction Doctor: Report

Doctor's son reportedly called 911

(Newser) - Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a nationally recognized specialist in opioid addiction, received a call on April 20 about a man suffering from a "grave" addiction to painkillers. The California doctor sent his son on a red-eye flight to see the patient in Minnesota and explain how his father's "...

Mom Who Found Daughter Dead Writes Devastatingly Honest Obituary

Kelsey Endicott, 23, died of accidental overdose

(Newser) - Kathleen Errico is the latest devastated family member to take part in a heartbreaking trend: being brutally honest about a person's untimely death. Errico found her 23-year-old daughter dead in her bed, TV still on, at 3:45am on April 2. Kelsey Endicott, who leaves behind a 2-year-old son,...

Addict's Story Touched Obama; Months Later, She Was Dead

Jessica Grubb died of 'oxycodone toxicity' on March 2

(Newser) - "I have sobriety, good books, Netflix, and a wonderful family," Jessica Grubb wrote from a Michigan hospital on Feb. 23, ahead of hip surgery. On March 1, the 30-year-old recovering heroin addict left the hospital with an IV port in her arm and 50 prescribed pills of oxycodone....

You Are Most Likely to Get Addicted to These Drugs

Heroin tops the list

(Newser) - Whether it's sipping coffee or shooting smack, people have a penchant for ingesting substances that alter their brain chemistry. And that can lead to drug dependence. But which drugs are most addictive? As Eric Bowman points out in an article in The Conversation , the answer to that question is...

Jeb Bush: My Daughter's Drug Abuse Was 'Hell'

Her drug addiction makes fighting substance abuse personal: Bush

(Newser) - Jeb Bush unveiled a nationwide plan to fight substance abuse on Tuesday and took the opportunity to speak about his family's own struggle with drugs. "As a father, I have felt the heartbreak of drug abuse," he writes at Medium . "My daughter Noelle suffered from addiction,...

This Leaf Gets People Off Drugs—and Gets Them Hooked

Kratom gives you a buzz, but at what cost?

(Newser) - There's a little green leaf that relieves pain and helps people kick heroin, but is also addictive—so should it be legal? That's what lawmakers are trying to decide about kratom, a tree-like plant from Southeast Asia, the New York Times reports. The FDA has banned kratom imports...

Country Mulls Plan for Heroin Epidemic: Give Them Heroin

Norway faces worst heroin mortality in Western Europe

(Newser) - If you can't cure heroin addicts, at least give them good-quality smack in a safe environment—or so say newly elected politicians in Norway. Facing a high national heroin-overdose rate, left-wing leaders in Oslo and Bergen want to treat hardcore addicts with a medical version of heroin that keeps...

Soon, Dublin Will Help Heroin Users Shoot Up

Gov't wants to treat substance abuse as public health issue, not a criminal one

(Newser) - Starting in 2016 in Dublin, heroin users will be able to head to a new injection center and shoot up "in a safe, secure, passionate environment" without risk of being arrested, Aodhan O'Riordain, Ireland's drug czar, tells AFP . Patrons will need to bring their own drugs and...

Obama Inspires Addict to Hand Over His Drugs

After hearing president's speech, man decides to get drug-free for his mom

(Newser) - Drug overdoses, particularly due to opioids, are one of the few public health issues that has "substantially worsened" during Obama's time in office, the New York Times reports. But the president may have helped at least one person turn his life around following a speech Oct. 21 in...

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