addiction - NewBostonPost

Massachusetts

Beyond brain chemistry: What are the root causes of addiction?

Can your environment help hook you on drugs? Drug addiction is a disease — a chemical dependency that arises from the way certain drugs interact with the brain. Put simply: drugs like cocaine and heroin latch onto the nerve cells of the brain, releasing pleasure-producing neurotransmitters like dopamine. Abuse becomes addiction

Maura Healey

Opioid battle takes a new direction thanks to local police

BOSTON – As opioids are killing Massachusetts residents at an alarming rate, the state's top leaders like Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, have encouraged local law enforcement agencies to pick up their efforts against drug abuse. Several agencies have taken the fight beyond

opioids

Bay State steps up fight against drug abuse epidemic

BOSTON – Massachusetts is rising up against drug addiction after deaths due to heroin and painkiller dependency climbed 8 percent over the past year. Gov. Charlie Baker has made the issue a priority, as have many lawmakers from across the state. As a result, new laws will come into effect that

new hampshire

NH probes opioid drug maker on marketing, addiction

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Attorney General Joe Foster is targeting the maker of Oxycontin, a top selling prescription painkiller, with an investigation into whether it downplays the risks of addiction when marketing pain pills to doctors and other prescribers. But Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma for now is refusing

Massachusetts

Worcester health board raises minimum age for tobacco to 21

It's going to get harder for teens to buy a pack of smokes in the second largest city in Massachusetts, after the Worcester Board of Health voted to raise the legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 in September. The unanimous vote followed a packed public hearing Wednesday

Opioid

Prince died of opioid overdose, tests reportedly show

CHICAGO (AP) — Tests show that Prince died of an opioid overdose, a law-enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The 57-year-old singer was found dead April 21 at his Minneapolis-area estate.

Massachusetts

Plainridge aims to help slots players avoid addiction

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts is set to launch this week a first-in-the-nation system allowing slot players to limit their bets, following months of planning and some pushback from the gambling industry. The goal is to prevent casual players from going down the destructive path of addiction, said Marlene Warner, executive director

opioids

First implant to control opiate addiction wins FDA approval

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Thursday approved an innovative new option for Americans struggling with addiction to heroin and painkillers: a drug-oozing implant that curbs craving and withdrawal symptoms for six months at a time. The first-of-a-kind device, Probuphine, arrives as communities across the U.S. grapple with a