heroin

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City Struggles to Respond to 27 Overdoses in Just 5 Hours

'It was basically like a mass casualty event'

(Newser) - Twenty-seven people overdosed in less than five hours Monday in one West Virginia city, USA Today reports. "It was basically like a mass casualty event," Cabell County EMS director Gordon Merry tells CNN . The first reported overdose in Huntington came in around 3:30pm, and ambulances and other...

Stealthily Driving the Heroin Epidemic: Legal Marijuana

Don Winslow makes the case in 'Esquire'

(Newser) - Much has been written about America's heroin problem, but a new piece in Esquire offers what might be the most provocative explanation yet: "Okay, I'm going to say it," writes Don Winslow. "The heroin epidemic was caused by the legalization of marijuana." When states...

A Shot Could Save This Heroin Addict. Can She Stay Clean to Get It?

Washington Post looks at the addiction epidemic through one woman's eyes

(Newser) - It's not hard to find stories about America's heroin problem, but the Washington Post provides a riveting look through the plight of a 31-year-old Michigan woman named Amanda Wendler. She's been an addict for 11 years and thus things are dire—the average active user is dead...

Judge Orders Heroin Dealers to Pay for Antidotes

But they'll serve years in prison first

(Newser) - Fatal drug overdoses have jumped about 40% in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area in recent years, a trend one judge hopes an unusual punishment will help reverse. In two cases this week, Judge Anthony Mariani ordered drug dealers to pay $50 to local EMS for each brick of heroin they...

Inmates Are Dying of Heroin Withdrawal in Jail

Deaths that advocates say are preventable

(Newser) - In the days following her 18-year-old daughter's first arrest on heroin charges, Stephanie Moyer took solace in thinking she would be safe in jail until she got into a treatment program. But Victoria "Tori" Herr sounded disoriented on a call home three days later. She feared she was...

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....

When Heroin Forces You to Raise Your Grandchild

The 'New York Times' talks to grandmothers who are doing it

(Newser) - Cindi Colburn is 51 years old, but her social circle is full of twentysomethings, and not exactly by choice: They're the parents of other 5-year-olds, and Colburn is raising one herself—Maleigha, her granddaughter, the child of a mother addicted to heroin. Colburn serves as the lead character among...

Puppy Treated for Drug Addiction Tested Positive for Heroin, Meth

'This strikes me as pretty horrible'

(Newser) - A puppy who was found to be under the influence of meth and heroin had to undergo drug addiction treatment, CNN reports. California police served an arrest warrant on 40-year-old Joshua West at a motel in March. Inside the motel, they found drugs, used needles, and a terrier mix named...

Cops: Women Hid $3M of Heroin, Opium in Tea Leaves

They were arrested at O'Hare International Airport

(Newser) - Three women were allegedly found with more than $3 million worth of drugs hidden in bags of tea leaves Tuesday afternoon at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the Chicago Sun Times reports. Authorities say nearly 70 pounds of opium and heroin were divided up into 470 tiny packets in...

1 in 11 Organ Donors Died of Drug Overdose Last Year

More than 20 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant

(Newser) - As the number of Americans dying of drug overdoses continues to rise—thanks in large part to an opioid epidemic—so too has the number of organ donors. In fact, the percentage of donors who died of overdoses has nearly tripled since 2006, according to data gathered by the United...

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,...

Mom, Grandma Charged in Teen's Heroin Overdose

The 16-year-old's body was found in an Ohio hotel

(Newser) - The mother and grandmother of a teen who died from a suspected heroin overdose were charged in his death after authorities say they think the mom and her son had used the drug together, the AP reports. Syringes, illegal drugs, and drug paraphernalia were found in the Ohio hotel room...

Americans Name Drug They Fear Most&mdash;and It&#39;s Legal
 Americans Name Drug They 
 Fear Most—and It's Legal 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 3, 2016 2:35 PM CDT

Americans Name Drug They Fear Most—and It's Legal

Alcohol causes 88K deaths a year

(Newser) - The second deadliest drug in the US after tobacco is similarly legal, and claims more lives than all illicit drugs combined with 88,000 deaths a year. Alcohol is also the drug that has Americans most concerned, reports the AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the...

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....

Cops: Guy Hid 1.4K Bags of Heroin—in His Body

Specifically, in his rectum

(Newser) - A New York City man has pleaded not guilty after police say they found more than 1,400 bags of heroin stashed inside his body, the AP reports. Vermont State Police say 41-year-old Fernando Estrella of the Bronx was pulled over for a traffic violation early Tuesday in St. Albans....

Pa. Coroner: Heroin Deaths Are Homicides

Other coroners may follow suit

(Newser) - There were two dozen drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania's Lycoming County last year—each labeled accidental. Then coroner Charles Kiessling had to pronounce his friend's son dead from a heroin overdose, though he'd promised the victim's mother he'd talk to him about overcoming his addiction....

DA: Teens' Mom Kidnapped Them With Lesbian Lover

Cindy Fortner, 46, pleads not guilty of kidnapping

(Newser) - The mom of two teen girls who went missing for 11 months is accused of kidnapping them with help from a female lover, the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports. Cindy Fortner, 46, wept heavily at an arraignment Friday in New York state when she pleaded not guilty to second-degree kidnapping....

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...

Mom Dies, Dad ODs in Daughter's Hospital Room

Dad now faces charges over suspect heroin use

(Newser) - On Facebook, Mary Ann and Wesley Landers and their two daughters looked like the "picture perfect family," says a friend. Then came "an eye-opener." Mary Ann, 32, was found dead of a suspected heroin overdose in her 7-month-old daughter's room at Cincinnati Children's Hospital...

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...

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