Martha Bebinger

So far this year, more than 1 in 4 donations in New England are from people who died after a drug overdose — a much higher rate than in the U.S. overall, though it's not clear why.

Studies suggest that smoking heavily in adolescence may affect brain function in adulthood, but there's a dearth of hard evidence for voters contemplating pot's long-term effects.

As doctors and nurses learn more about what the body goes through during drug use, they are changing the treatment they provide for patients on heroin and other drugs.

A Boston health clinic that treats transgender kids and teens finds that the percentage of its young patients who are adopted is higher than expected. These kids might need extra support, doctors say.

The FDA has approved the Probuphine implant for medication-assisted therapy for opioid addiction. It lasts for six months, compared to daily pills. But it also will be more expensive.

A refrigerator-sized machine could someday make lifesaving drugs on site when outbreaks occur or where medicine is in short supply, like on the battlefield.

The FDA could soon approve an implantable form of a drug used to treat opioid addiction. While the approach helped patients avoid relapse in tests, its price may be prohibitive for some, doctors say.

Set to open within a few weeks, the room will not be a place to inject drugs or get high, say health providers. Instead, a nurse will monitor heroin users as they come down from the drug's effects.

A state analysis reveals that the majority of overdose deaths in 2014 came from heroin or prescription opioids taken in combination with cocaine, anti-anxiety medications or alcohol.

Martha and Alvaro Galvis were wounded in 2013's bombing of the Boston Marathon. One of the hardest things to deal with, they say, is the feeling that something random and scary could happen again.