Addiction and the overdose crisis
Our ongoing coverage of addiction, opioids and the broader overdose crisis in Massachusetts.
Do you know what’s in your pill? In Mass. there’s a way to find out
In 2019, Traci Green started the first statewide community drug-checking program in the U.S. So far this year, her team has tested more than a thousand samples from 20 communities...
Mass. communities fought for opioid settlements but aren’t spending the money
Massachusetts cities and towns are sitting on $84 million dollars in opioid settlement funds. Some communities have yet to spend any of the funding they have received from lawsuits meant...
Stocking vending machines with needles and Narcan to curb overdose deaths
Groups trying to reduce overdose deaths and the spread of infectious diseases are replacing chips and soda in vending machines with sterile needles, pipes, wound care kits, Narcan and fentanyl...
Retraining a brain addicted to cocaine, one prize at a time
Thirty years of research show rewards for patients who stay off cocaine and meth are the most effective treatment for an addiction to stimulants. Federal rules have discouraged use of...
Nitazenes, opioids often more potent than fentanyl, emerge as new overdose threat in Mass.
The state says versions of nitazenes up to 25 times stronger than fentanyl have been detected in Massachusetts, raising the overdose risks for people who use drugs. Naloxone or Narcan...
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MBTA to install overdose-reversing medication containers at some Red Line stops
The overdose-reversal drug naloxone will be available to the public at five stations along the MBTA's Red Line in the coming weeks.
Ambitious federal effort to curb overdoses shows no impact on deaths, initial study finds
A $349 million effort to reduce opioid deaths in four states over three years resulted in no decrease in deaths, a new study found. Researchers cited challenges related to COVID...
Naloxone boxes credited with helping to reduce overdose deaths in Mass.
For many years, communities in Massachusetts balked at the idea of installing boxes containing Narcan on the streets and outside public buildings. Now there are at least 134. This drug...
Overdose deaths in Mass. dropped 10%, but fatalities rose for Black men
It’s the largest single-year decrease in overdose deaths here in 20 years, state officials said. Preliminary data suggests the trend is keeping up this year. But the gains are uneven....
R.I. is using a new app to help people stay off drugs. But is it reaching those most in need?
Rhode Island is piloting an app developed by a Boston-based tech company that offers people struggling with addiction small rewards, like gift cards or vouchers, for staying clean. But there...
State ends housing programs for those in 'Mass. and Cass' encampment
The programs had seemed to help reduce the numbers of people living on the streets while facing mental health and substance use disorders, and address problems such as increasing violence...
Springfield set to settle medical care lawsuit in opioid-related death of Vt. woman
The family of Madelyn Linsenmeir sued the city of Springfield and the Hampden County Sheriff's Department, saying law enforcement officials ignored the 30-year-old mother's pleas for help before she died...
Some Mass. hospitals stop infant welfare reporting based solely on drug dependence
Instead of automatically reporting to the state infants born dependent on addictive substances like opioids, new policies ask hospital staff to evaluate whether the newborn faces an imminent risk of...
Study: 42% of American adults know someone who died from an overdose
An estimated 42% of adults in the U.S. — roughly 125 million people — know at least one person who has died of a drug overdose, according to a RAND...
Mass. set to receive another $8 million in opioid settlement money, AG Campbell says
State Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said the funds are part of a $350 million national settlement with Publicis Health, a marketing firm that worked for opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma.
Boston dedicates small portion of opioid settlement funds to grieving families
Boston's first distribution of opioid settlement funds will go to families who've lost a member to an overdose. Initial grants for funerals, child care and housing are expected this summer....
Some parents say Mass. needs overdose prevention centers
Some grieving parents who’ve become leaders in the drug overdose crisis called on Massachusetts lawmakers to allow overdose prevention or supervised consumption sites in the state. They are angry that...
Some N.H. residents want better answers from 2024 candidates on the opioid crisis
Drug overdose deaths in New Hampshire have increased in recent years, and some residents want to hear more from the presidential candidates about how they'd help.
Mass. cities, towns cautious or confused about how to spend millions in opioid settlement funds
Money from the settlement of opioid-related lawsuits is pouring into Massachusetts. The state has set spending priorities and is awarding grants. But most municipalities haven't spent any of the more...
A story years in the making: At-home overdose prevention
WBUR's Martha Bebinger wanted to write about home-based supervised consumption for many years. She keeps hearing from parents, siblings, partners and kids who do it but wouldn't talk about it....