The opioid epidemic is the widespread misuse of and death from opioids, including prescription pain medicines, heroin, and fentanyl. The topic covers how the crisis developed, how drugs are regulated and sold, and how governments respond with treatment, prevention, law enforcement, and funding. Federal and state agencies, courts, drug makers, doctors, and communities are all involved.
People usually ask how the crisis began and which agencies are responding. They want to know how opioids are regulated, what treatment and overdose prevention look like, where federal grants go, how laws treat drug use and dealing, and how the language used to describe addiction shapes policy.
An independent team explaining how government works
America faces a public health emergency of unprecedented scale: the opioid overdose crisis. While synthetic opioids like fentanyl are often the immediate agents of death, an…
The United States faces an unprecedented overdose crisis. This has led to interventions ranging from established Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) to controversial Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs).…
An animal tranquilizer never intended for people has infiltrated the U.S. illicit drug supply, creating a new dimension to the nation's overdose crisis. The drug is…
The opioid crisis is one of the most devastating public health emergencies in American history. Since 1999, over 645,000 people in the United States have died…
In the fall of 2018, as the United States grappled with an opioid crisis claiming tens of thousands of lives annually, Congress passed legislation…
Since the opioid crisis was declared a national public health emergency in October 2017, Congress has allocated tens of billions of dollars to combat…
At the heart of the American opioid crisis lies a simple, powerful, and ultimately devastating concept: "Pain as the Fifth Vital Sign." This report…
Four substances have defined America's decades-long opioid epidemic: the prescription medications fentanyl, OxyContin, and Vicodin, plus the illegal drug heroin. Each has played a…
Opioids are powerful drugs that interact with the human body to produce pain relief and other effects. Sometimes called narcotics, this category includes both…
The American opioid crisis is a public health catastrophe that has claimed more than 800,000 lives between 1999 and 2023. It began in doctor's…
