Will wipes away sweat on a hot day while walking down Willow Street in Lynn, Mass., as he looks to distribute safety supplies to drug users on the street. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption
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war on drugs
Huntington was once ground-zero for this opioid epidemic. Several years ago, they formed a team that within days visits everyone who overdoses to try to pull them back from the brink. The county's overdose rate plummeted. They wrestled down an HIV cluster. They finally felt hope. Then the pandemic arrived and it undid much of their effort: overdoses shot up again, so did HIV diagnoses. David Goldman/AP hide caption
Overdose Deaths Rose During The War On Drugs, But Efforts To Reduce Them Face Backlash
During the War on Drugs, the Brownsville neighborhood in New York City saw some of the highest rates of incarceration in the U.S., as Black and Hispanic men were sent to prison for lengthy prison sentences, often for low-level, nonviolent drug crimes. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
After 50 Years Of The War On Drugs, 'What Good Is It Doing For Us?'
Supporters of Kian delos Santos protest on Thursday outside the police station where three policemen involved in Kian's killing were assigned in Manila. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A farmer shows cocaine base paste, made from coca leaves in Colombia's Guaviare department in 2017. Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Colombia Is Growing Record Amounts Of Coca, The Key Ingredient In Cocaine
A worker packages medical marijuana in San Francisco in 2006. City prosecutors say they'll clear thousands of marijuana convictions. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte looks on during the 20th ASEAN China Summit in Manila, Philippines, on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Ezra Acayan/AP hide caption
Philippine Sen. Leila de Lima, a former human rights commissioner and one of President Rodrigo Duterte's most vocal opponents, waves to supporters after appearing at a court in suburban Manila on Feb. 24. She was arrested on drug-related charges that she denies. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Kurt Britz checks a driver's license at the 3-D Denver Discrete Dispensary on Jan. 1, 2014, the first day recreational marijuana sales were legal in Colorado. Possession remains illegal for those under 21 years old, and statistics show a widening racial gap in arrests for those offenses. Theo Stroomer/Getty Images hide caption
As Adults Legally Smoke Pot In Colorado, More Minority Kids Arrested For It
A Mexican soldier stands guard next to marijuana packages in Tijuana following the discovery of a tunnel under the U.S.-Mexico border in 2010. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
'Narconomics': How The Drug Cartels Operate Like Wal-Mart And McDonald's
D. Watkins' work has appeared in The Baltimore Sun and Salon. He will start teaching English at Goucher College in the spring. Aaron Maybin/Hot Books hide caption
Kurt Schmoke, former mayor of Baltimore, is now the president of the University of Baltimore. Courtesy of the University of Baltimore hide caption
Former Baltimore Mayor: City Must Confront The 'Rot Beneath The Glitter'
Bluefields sits along Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast. It's a place where six in 10 people live in extreme poverty. Juan Carlos for NPR hide caption
Two soldiers watch 134 tons of marijuana seized by the Mexican Army burn in the border town of Tijuana, Mexico, in October 2010. Francisco Vega/AFP/Getty Images hide caption