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Drugs

In this Aug. 3, 2007, file photo, psilocybin mushrooms are seen in a grow room at the Procare farm in Hazerswoude, central Netherlands. 

Study: ‘Magic’ mushrooms show promise for treating severe depression

Medicine

A new British study out on Wednesday shows that psilocybin — the substance found in hallucinogenic mushrooms — can help treat people with severe depression. But science writer Dana Smith cautions that psychedelic mushrooms are “not going to be a cure-all.”

A woman typing on a laptop on a train in New Jersey

What comes after Hydra, the darknet marketplace that changed everything?

Internet
Officers gather kratom plants in Phang Nha province, Thailand. Thailand on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, decriminalized the possession and sale of kratom, a plant native to Southeast Asia.

Thailand legalizes kratom, a mild narcotic leaf

Health & Medicine
A fire medic holds a box containing naloxone hydrochloride which is carried in all their department's emergency response vehicles, in Akron, Ohio

With rising overdoses, British Columbia expands experimental prescription initiative

Health & Medicine
A nurse administers a shot to an elderly man wearing a white T-shirt and black pants at his home.

Dual citizens in Mexico seek vaccine options in the US as rollout lags

COVID-19
A photo illustration of vaccine bottles and a syringe

World faces risk of ‘vaccine nationalism’ in COVID-19 fight, says CEPI chair

With so many competing interests facing off, it’s far from clear that once an effective vaccine is produced, all of the world’s citizens will have equitable access to it.

Mae Salong

They were CIA-backed Chinese rebels. Now you’re invited to their once-secret hideaway.

Conflict & Justice

Former CIA-backed guerrillas — rivals of Chairman Mao Zedong — are now embracing the tourism industry, years after setting up the arteries and networks that sustain the Golden Triangle drug trade to this day.

Bags of white powdery fentanyl on a table.

How the deadly drug fentanyl is making its way to the US

Health

Fentanyl, a deadly drug 100 times stronger than morphine, is linked to complex international supply chains that traffic it into the US.

a white bottle of Oxycontin sits on a shelf.

How do our brains react to drugs? A former addict turned neuroscientist explains.

Health & Medicine

With overdoses becoming an increasing problem in the US, its more important than ever to understand how our brains react to drugs. Judith Grisel, a former drug addict turned neuroscientist, explains how our brains become addicted to drugs and shares her story.

A woman in a factory

In one Oklahoma county, the number of women in prison is falling. This treatment program might be why.

Conflict

In 2015, 40-year-old Ronna Stone was looking at another prison sentence until she was offered a way out and a new life.