An emergency overdose kit in Providence, Rhode Island.
Michelle Smith/AP
The White House has laid out a plan to address the opioid crisis. But people suffering from opioid addiction aren’t the only ones who need help.
Michelle Holley holds a photograph of her daughter Jaime Holley, 19, who died of a heroin overdose in November 2016.
Lynne Sladky/AP Photo
Your guide to a public health crisis that’s likely to get worse.
Talk it out.
Iakov Filimonov/shutterstock.com
While talking about drugs with young people isn’t always comfortable, research has shown that it’s critical for prevention.
Oxycodone-acetaminophen pills.
Patrick Sison/AP
Drug addiction isn’t about bad habits, fear of withdrawal or a selfish search for pleasure. It’s about the brain.
Discarded used hypodermic needles along the Merrimack River in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Charles Krupa/AP Photos
HIV, STIs and other dangerous infections are feeding off of the opioid epidemic, creating an even more complicated threat to public health.
For patients with chronic pain, the answer isn’t simple.
Chris Post/AP Photo
If opioids prevent significant suffering, then the solution to the prescription opioid problem cannot simply be to stop using them.
People without ID, like Steven Kemp, are sometimes turned away from the country’s already threadbare system of drug treatment centers.
Matt Rourke/AP Photo
President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency. But we need to do a lot more to prevent this crisis from escalating even further.