Heroin

The rising death rate of young white adults in the United States is being driven by drug overdoses, The New York Times reports.

Two U.S. senators are calling on Congress to pass an emergency spending bill to combat the growing opioid epidemic, according to The Hill. Senators Angus King of Maine and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are asking for $600 million in funding.

President Obama has named Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to lead a new effort to address the problem of heroin and prescription drug abuse in rural America.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, January 8- Thursday, January 14, 2016.

Do school nurses REALLY need naloxone? The answer is YES. The data about drug overdose is alarming. Our youth are at risk and school nurses recognize the danger.

High prescribing rates of opioid painkillers are likely a factor in the increase in neonatal abstinence syndrome, according to the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

More children are being sent into foster care as a result of the abuse of heroin and opioid painkillers, The Wall Street Journal reports. Officials say opioid abuse is straining child welfare agencies.

Massachusetts State Police report eight people have died in one week from a deadly strain of heroin known as “Hollywood” heroin. Officials say they are not sure how long the strain has been in the state.

A survey of high school students finds 77 percent of those who use heroin say they also have used opioid painkillers for non-medical purposes.

More than 47,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2014, setting a new record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug overdoses increased 6.5 percent from 2013.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, December 11- Thursday, December 17, 2015.

More than 47,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2014, an increase of 7 percent from the previous year, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, December 4- Thursday, December 10, 2015.

The vast majority of overdose deaths in Massachusetts in the first six months of 2014 were caused by heroin or a prescription opioid taken along with some other drug or alcohol, according to NPR.

A growing number of Americans are seeking treatment for addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers, while alcohol-related treatment admissions are declining, according to a new report.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, November 20- Thursday, December 3, 2015.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, November 13- Thursday, November 19, 2015.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, November 6- Thursday, November 12, 2015.

Heroin is the top drug threat in the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday. Availability of heroin is up across the country, as are abuses, overdoses and overdose deaths, NBC News reports.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, October 30- Thursday, November 5, 2015.

As the demographics of heroin use continue to shift, a growing number of families whose children died of heroin overdoses are calling for a change in approach to addressing the crisis, according to The New York Times.

Police departments around the country are starting programs based on one created in Gloucester, Massachusetts earlier this year that provides treatment for people who come to the police station with illegal drugs and paraphernalia, instead of arresting them.

A study of people addicted to painkillers who began using heroin confirms that many of them were drawn to heroin’s low cost and wide availability.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, October 23- Thursday, October 29, 2015.

As heroin use spurs the AIDS epidemic in some parts of the world through shared needles, the debate on drug enforcement is shifting at the United Nations, according to The New York Times.