Disease or bad behavior: Does addiction call for compassion or punishment?

Drugs with the power to disorient a user's moral compass create a fundamental split in how addicts are perceived, and the difference trickles into the public policy and resources meant to combat the crisis. Meanwhile, as the societal response wavers, people are dying.

Families hit hard: For some caught in crisis, tragedies multiply

Because addiction is driven largely by genetic and environmental factors, overdoses can strike the same home twice, compounding the sense of grief and shame that is common among the epidemic's survivors.

Lost: A Special Report

Resources for users who want to stop, and how others can help

Q: I want to learn more about addiction. Where can I go? A: The National Institute of Drug Abuse has extensive resources about the science of addiction. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a good tool for learning about different treatment options and what they entail. The Alliance for Addiction and […]

Note from the editor: How the 10-part ‘Lost’ series came to be

GETTING HELP: Resources for those who want to stop, and how others can help As a devastating public health crisis tore through families and communities across the state, the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram set out to document the heroin epidemic’s impact. A team of reporters sought to understand the causes and consequences of the […]

Opioids rewire – and take control of – the brain

From its initial use, heroin alters chemical processes in the nervous system and makes the agony of withdrawal an overwhelming deterrent to quitting.

A deadly epidemic: Addiction to opioids has put an entire generation at risk

The grisly trend – fatalities from drug overdoses in Maine reached an all-time high in 2016 – only seems to be getting worse, prompting one caregiver to lament: ‘Where is the outrage?’ This 10-part examination lays out the ramifications of the crisis, mining answers from the human toll by telling the stories of those we’ve lost.