Deborah Becker

Many of the older courtrooms in Massachusetts aren't equipped for trials during a pandemic. So the state has had to get creative. Wedding venues, and even a nightclub, are now hosting court.

States across the U.S. have taken a hodgepodge approach to vaccinating inmates in prisons and jails. Advocates say the issue is key to fighting COVID-19 outbreaks inside and outside of prison walls.

Cities from Chicago to Oakland report increases in shootings and killings since the pandemic began. Tensions from the pandemic may be contributing, but the answer isn't so simple.

Alcoholics Anonymous may be just as good or better than scientifically proven treatments to help people quit drinking, according to a new review. But AA still doesn't work for everyone.

Thousands of Massachusetts residents have been committed to treatment for addiction against their will. Some families say locking up addicts in prison isn't treatment. Others say it saves lives.

The group says it has 18 chapters in eight states, all of them funded by private, anonymous donations. Members distribute free and clean drug-use supplies even at the risk of being arrested.

Court documents released show that Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin, sought to push doctors to prescribe the painkiller even though the company knew it was addictive and dangerous.

Massachusetts is one of many states that allow addicts to be forced into residential treatment. The state's newest facility is a former prison that is still run much like a prison.

Prosecutors in Massachusetts have a court imposed deadline this week to decide how many cases they will dismiss because of a drug lab scandal that potentially tainted 24,000 criminal cases. They estimate that fewer than 1,000 cases will be re-prosecuted. The scandal involved a former state chemist found guilty of tampering with evidence.

As the Women's March on Washington continues in the nation's capitol, people are marching in cities across the world. Deborah Becker of member station WBUR is at the march in Boston.

The nation's first lighthouse turns 300 years old Wednesday. NPR takes a tour of Boston Light.

Many police departments are trying various strategies to help people get into drug treatment rather than arrest them. Over the past year, police in Gloucester, Mass., started an Angel Program.

The cry for more substance abuse treatment beds has not missed the ears of some private investors. They're eager to get in on the estimated $35 billion treatment business.

Some health plans in Massachusetts are putting tighter limits on painkiller prescriptions. Others are hiring their own social workers to help customers who struggle with opioid abuse quit for good.

Talking about grief and the loss of a loved one isn't typically dinner conversation. Many people, even those struggling to cope with loss, will avoid talking about such heavy topics, especially over supper.

But a fledgling nonprofit designs dinners specifically for young adults to get together and talk about their ...

Having police, school nurses, drug users and family equipped with kits to reverse an overdose saves lives, doctors say. But reversing addiction requires follow-up care that many users aren't getting.

Drug addicts have begun turning themselves into the police department in Gloucester, Mass., after the police chief announced an amnesty program. Addicts who turn themselves in and han...

There have been six overdose deaths on the posh island since last August. An addiction specialist on Martha's Vineyard calls it a "phenomenal rate for a community of 16,000 people."

First responders nationwide are expanding use of Narcan, used to treat heroin and other opioid overdoses. But the drug is pricey — and only one company makes it.

The nation's crime labs are no strangers to scandal. Last year in Massachusetts, bogus testing by former chemist Annie Dookhan called into question tens of thousands of cases and led to the release of more than 300 people from the state's prisons.

There are currently no uniform standards ...