The Opioid Epidemic 

Fentanyl: drug 50 times more potent than heroin ravages New Hampshire Of 69 fatal overdose victims last year, 68% had taken the synthetic opioid, which Mexican cartels have learned to make and smuggle to interstate highways. The drug ‘is what is killing our citizens,’ says Manchester’s police chief. February 4, 2016, The Guardian

Heroin dealers could face murder charges amid crisis in New Hampshire State’s attorney general aims to teach police to treat fatal drug overdoses like murder scenes, but critics attack a ‘backwards punitive policy.’ February 9, 2016, The Guardian

Murder charges for drug dealers? February 11, 2016, interview on NECN

CDC issues guidelines against opioid prescriptions to treat chronic pain Escalating deaths and addiction rates force agency – which typically leaves drug regulation to the FDA – to make rare decision to step in. March 17, 2016, The Guardian

Synthetic opiate makers stay step ahead of US drug laws as overdose cases rise W-18 and U-47700 are the latest designer drugs among thousands created and smuggled into the US that have yet to be outlawed as controlled substances April 11, 2016, The Guardian

'Death pill': fentanyl disguised as other drugs linked to spike in US overdoses Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times as powerful as morphine, and often users of Xanax and other pills don’t know they’re taking it – which is confounding authorities. May 10, 2016, The Guardian

How a 'Death Pill' Is Spreading Among Opioid Abusers May 12, 2016, interview on NECN

What is fentanyl? The little-known but deadly drug that killed Prince One of the most dangerous drugs is a synthetic opioid ‘so potent and that even a microgram amount can kill’ – and it’s up to 50 times more powerful than heroin. June 3, 2016, The Guardian

Opioid painkiller study: 66% of patients keep leftover pills after treatment One-fifth of that group then share their leftover pills, shedding further light on opioid overdose crisis after 29,000 overdoses in 2014. June 15, 2016, The Guardian

Pills laced with deadly opioid infiltrating drug market, DEA says The illegal drugs look like known prescription painkillers and contain high amounts of fentanyl as law enforcement says problem is expected to escalate. July 24, 2016, The Guardian

Spurred by fentanyl, fatal opioid overdoses increase in Massachusetts, The opioid-related overdose death toll in Massachusetts continues to escalate as more and more people in the state are dying from the synthetic painkiller fentanyl, according to a report released Wednesday by the state Department of Health. August 3, 2016, Boston.com

Latest on Opioid Related Deaths February 20, 2017, interview on NECN

In Massachusetts, Trump’s immigration crackdown harms drug epidemic fight Lawrence, Massachusetts is just one American town where law enforcement already struggles to address an opioid crisis – now they fear it might get worse March 31, 2017, The Guardian

How Heroin Kills Kids Without Even Touching Them The tragic case of Bella Bond exposes how overwhelmed Massachusetts is by the opioid crisis, and how children of addicts are falling through the cracks. June 17, 2017, The Daily Beast

The Infrastructure of the Opioid Epidemic On Boston’s “Methadone Mile,” the city’s opioid users cluster around a few-block-stretch, where they find some support, and a sweeping range of treatment services. They are also out of sight of the rest of the city. September 14, 2017, The Atlantic's City Lab

Reporting from Methadone Mile September 15, 2017, interview on NECN