A rebellious country girl studying high-level maths and science becomes a hooker and junkie roaming [Sydney’s] Kings Cross. How does this happen? By Stephanie Wood. [Autoplay]

Firing up specific brain cells—linked to gambling in people—turns rats cautious. By Beth Mole.

The sweet, sad song of a wild child and a forgotten samurai who lost themselves, found each other, got better, got worse, rescued a neighborhood, saved the girl who wouldn’t smile—and finally found peace. By Steve Friedman. (May ’15)

From 1999 to 2014, over half a million Americans died from a drug overdose, according to CDC data. STAT news explores what’s driving the opioid epidemic.

How to win the war on drugs. By Dan Baum.

One early evening last October, a group of young men and women were hanging out at the Starbucks on the main drag here, Atlantic Avenue, smoking cigarettes and bullshitting. They were sitting next to a pile of suitcases, the telltale sign of an addict looking for a place to stay. Some get kicked out of their old halfway house because they relapse; others because their insurance coverage has been used up.

If actions speak louder than words and a picture is worth a thousand… does it help anyone see what you’re saying when you communicate without them? Sometimes, no matter how loud you sho…

The funds will help providers hire about 800 people to treat nearly 124,000 new patients.

Whether a person is hooked on heroin or pain pills, it is next to impossible to break the cycle.

A searing, two-hour investigation of America’s heroin crisis.

A Columbia University psychiatry professor talks about what he's learned from trying the drug himself and studying it over the years. By Carl L. Hart. (Feb. 9)

“You are cured of your hepatitis after a course of Sovaldi, a new pill that clears the disease in 95 percent of cases. The price of this near-certain cure: $84,000. Each pill costs $1,000. You are fortunate to live in New York, the state where Medicaid coverage of the drug is the most generous. Many states pay for only the sickest patients. You are, relatively speaking, not that sick.” By Sarah Resnick.

Is it really mind over matter?

Chris Rose's Pulitzer crystal sits in his small French Quarter apartment, its glass badly chipped from various accidents. The disfigured accolade for his work on a reporting team at the Times-Picayune is a reminder of both prowess and loss... By Michael Patrick Welch. (Mar. ’15)

Adding flashing lights and music to gambling encourages risky decision-making—even if you’re a rat.

Cartographic analysis shows how deaths from drug overdoses have surged in nearly every county across the United States, driven largely by an explosion in addiction to prescription painkillers and heroin.

Four tiny, implantable rods that steadily ooze drugs could help some patients kick opioid addictions, an advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration concluded Tuesday. With a 12 to 5 vote, the committee of medical experts recommended that the regulatory agency approve the implantable device for use—and the agency often follows such advice. If approved, the treatment would debut amid a national epidemic of addictions and overdoses involving...

An entomologist reflects on fly-hunting, an outhouse of distinguished provenance, and the narcissism of collectors. By Fredrik Sjöberg.

Drug company seeks FDA approval of an arm implant that delivers daily doses of buprenorphine, an opioid addiction treatment, for months at a time.

Over the past year, the Globe spent time with an East Boston heroin addict as she navigated the minefield of recovery and the grim prospect of losing her children to the state. Nearly every key moment was witnessed by a Globe reporter or photographer. Brave, broken, loving, at a loss, this is Raquel and her story. By Katie Johnston. (Dec ’15)