July 2015

A little over a hundred years ago, rather than facing the perils of buying drugs on the street, heroin addicts could purchase the substance at their local convenience store. A powerful opioid synthesized from poppy flowers, heroin was once marketed

Unlike heroin and methamphetamine, designer drugs aren't a single type of substance. Nor do they belong to a single class of drugs, such as stimulants or depressants. Instead, designer drugs are chemically synthesized substances designed to mimic other drugs. Some

Cocaine was once widely available, and marketed as a virtual panacea for ailments ranging from depression to headaches. But the libertine use of cocaine quickly gave rise to a national addiction epidemic, spurring authorities to ban the drug, prohibiting even

Alcohol is as American as apple pie. But it's far more deadly than this sweet treat. Every year, alcohol claims the lives of nearly 90,000 Americans, making it the leading cause of drug-related deaths, outpacing all other drug groups except